After talks with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on Friday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Friday that he had no "Israeli partner" ready to push forward the Middle East peace process, rebuffing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer of talks.

Accusing Netanyahu of not being serious about peace, Assad told reporters he was not willing to hold face-to-face negotiations with the Israeli leader and called instead for lower-level dialogue under Turkish mediation.

"If Mr. Netanyahu is serious, he can send a team of experts, and we'll send a team of experts to Turkey. Then we can really talk, if they're interested," he said.

Netanyahu visited Sarkozy on Wednesday, after which an Israeli official said the premier was "willing to meet the Syrian president at anytime and anywhere to push forward peace negotiations on the basis of no pre-conditions."

"Today, Syria wants peace. There is a mediator, Turkey, which is ready to resume its mediation. There is also French and European support for this process," Assad told reporters at the Elysee Palace.

"What we lack is an Israeli partner, who is ready to go forward and ready to come to a result," he declared.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) had reported earlier on Friday that Assad described his summit with his French counterpart as “honest, successful and constructive.”

He added that their talks helped strengthen the trust between Syria and France, SANA reported.

As for Lebanon, Assad stated that the new cabinet formation represents an important step toward achieving stability.

-AFP/NOW Lebanon

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