United Press International (UPI)

24.06.09

DAMASCUS, Syria, June 24 (UPI) -- Damascus stands by the demands for an independent Palestinian state based on a land-for-peace initiative, the Syrian deputy foreign minister said.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad said Syria has played in important role in ongoing peace discussion in the region, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reports.

On a presentation outlining Syrian foreign policy and international developments, Mekdad described negotiations regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as vital to the interests of Damascus.

"Syria is ready for peace according to the Madrid Conference and the land-for-peace formula," he said.

The Madrid Conference of 1991 outlined the terms of an interim self-government of the Palestinian territories followed by negotiations of a permanent status. The land-for-peace formula describes a scenario whereby Israel forfeits land seized in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war in exchange for peace agreements.

Mekdad further stressed that a future Palestinian state should have Jerusalem as its capital.

In a major foreign policy speech recently, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the first time called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state but provoked regional ire when he refused to back down on Israeli settlements in West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Washington on Wednesday said it canceled a meeting with Netanyahu based on the settlement issue.