Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Monday that indirect talks with Israel and mediated by Turkey are focusing on how much territory Syrian claims is occupied by Israel, which re-established sovereignty over the strategic Golan Heights in the Six-Day War in 1967.
His remark was the first time he had directly commented on the nature of the discussions that began in May. He refused to define the borders that Syria would be willing to grant Israel, particularly on the eastern shore of the Kinneret, where four years of less-than-average rain have shrunk the width of the lake.