JERUSALEM, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The fifth round of indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria was postponed due to the resignation of the lead Israeli negotiator, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported Monday.

    Yoram Turbowitz, who heads the negotiating team on the Syrian track, has resigned from the position of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's chief of staff, and thus lost his legal authority to conduct negotiations on behalf of Israel, said the report.

    As a result, the fifth round of the Turkey-mediated talks, originally scheduled on Thursday, has to be postponed as Turbowitz waits for Attorney General Menahem Mazuz to grant him legal permission to continue to lead the team, according to the report.

    Yet the delay has caused Syrian and Turkish officials to speculate over Israel's intentions, reported the Israeli Army Radio, with some claiming that the decision came in the wake of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's recent visit to Russia and his statements on Syria's intentions to buy Russian missiles.

    In response, sources at Olmert's office told the broadcaster that the only reason for the delay was bureaucratic, and Israel is "committed to continuing the talks with Syria and they will be renewed as soon as possible."

    Israel and Syria announced in mid-May that they had started peace negotiations under the auspices of Turkey, some two weeks after a bribery probe against Olmert went public, which led to speculations that such a move was aimed to divert the public attention from the scandal.

    The key issue between the two neighbors remains the strategic Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed in 1981. Syria demands the return of the entire highland, yet polls have shown that the Israeli public strongly oppose a full withdrawal.