DAMASCUS, Nov. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Israel's rejection of the the Syrian offer of unconditional peace talks showed that it wanted to kill the peace process, the official Damascus Radio said Thursday."By rejecting peace, Israel wants to kill any hope and block any international effort aimed at relaunching the peace process," the radio said.

    "It is time for the world to know that Israel assumes sole responsibility for preventing peace and for the explosive situation which exists in the Middle East," it said.

    After meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Wednesday,UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said that Assad was ready to reopen negotiations with Israel "without conditions", an offer immediately slapped down by Israel.

    Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom reacted by saying that notalks were possible while Syria "allows terrorism to be conducted on their territory", repeating accusations that Syria is harbouring leaders of Palestinian militant groups and supporting the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

    Peace talks between Syria and Israel foundered in 2000 largely over the issue of how much of the occupied Golan Height would behanded back to Syria and the two countries are still technically atwar with each other.

    Israel captured the strategic plateau in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized abroad.Israeli Ariel Sharon's government has ruled out peacemaking withSyria unless Damascus ends support for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas and Palestinian militants in revolt against Israel inthe West Bank and Gaza, territories it also occupied in 1967.Enditem