Syria rejects Israeli call to cut ties with Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas

A Syrian government newspaper rejected Israel's demand that Damascus should cut its ties with Iran and armed groups as a condition for peace agreement with tel Aviv. The state-run Tishrin said in its Saturday's editorial that any preconditions to a deal would "put the carriage before the horse" and Syria's relations with other nations were not on the bargaining table.

Saturday's editorial in the paper, which reflects official policy, comes in response to remarks two days earlier by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that Syria had to stop supporting Hizbullah and Hamas and cut ties with Iran.