Beirut - Syrian authorities have asked the staff of the American school and cultural centre in Damascus to leave Syria within 48 hours, Lebanese radio reported Monday.

A week ago, Damascus ordered the closure of the facilities, in what appeared to be a response to a US commando raid inside Syria on October 26.

Syria says four helicopters attacked a building near its border with Iraqi, killing eight people. Washington has not formally acknowledged the raid, but US officials say the target was a top al- Qaeda figure in Iraq.

Jerusalem - The hardline opposition Likud party submitted a bill to parliament Monday, which if passed would make it illegal for any Israeli transitional government to conduct peace talks and give up territory.

The bill is another effort by the party to block attempts by Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to negotiate a peace treaty with the Palestinians and Syria during his final months in office at the head of a transitional government.

Tel Aviv - Legislators of the opposition Likud party asked Israel's attorney-general Friday to examine whether interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as the head of a transitional government has the authority to continue peace negotiations with Syria.

Likud legislator Yuval Steinitz said Olmert, by conducting talks with Syria as an outgoing premier, was "trampling the principles of democracy" and endangering "Israel's most vital interests" for the sake of his own personal record.

Tel Aviv - Israeli Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has sent a message to Syria, saying he wants to step up peace negotiations with Damascus now that it has become clear he will stay in power for a few more months, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday.

Olmert asked Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul in a meeting in Tel Aviv to convey the message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Yediot Ahronot reported.

Olmert resigned last month from the premiership and the leadership of his ruling Kadima party to fight corruption allegations.

Beirut - Syria will deploy more troops along its border with Lebanon in a move aimed at combating smuggling between the two countries, the Lebanese Army said Thursday.

Lebanese Army chief Jean Kahwaji and his Syrian counterpart Ali Habib discussed the deployment of Syrian Army units along the eastern border over the next few days, an Army statement said.

"This deployment comes in the framework of measures to stop smuggling and prevent the movement of people illegally across the borders," it said.

New York - Lebanon and Syria have moved to fully implement a UN Security Council resolution to end decades of conflicts by establishing diplomatic ties, a UN special envoy in the Middle East said Thursday.

The council asked in 2004 that Syria end its interference, both military and political, in Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Syria ended the military occupation in
2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.