Syria hopes for a Middle East peace process to be launched next year, FM Walid al-Moualem said on Monday. Talks between Israel and Syria over the Golan Heights, a mountainous plateau occupied by Israel since 1967, collapsed in 2000 after Syria insisted on regaining control of all the strategic piece of land.
Syria has endorsed calls by countries such as Russia for an international Middle East conference, similar to the 1991 Madrid conference which led to direct talks between Syria and Israel. European nations have begun re-establishing high-level contacts with Syria since the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, sparked by Hezbollah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers in July.
Officials from Britain, Spain, Italy and Germany have had contacts with the Syrian side. An adviser for British PM Tony Blair and senior intelligence officers from London met Syrian officials last week.
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