Tel Aviv  - Unknown gunmen in Syria opened fire on a group of Israeli military engineers on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, an Israeli military spokesman said.

He said a group of army sappers were working on the border fence with Syria when several bullets were fired at them. There were no injuries, but slight damage was caused to a vehicle.

Israel has lodged a complaint with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDORF), the spokesman said.

Israel's border with Syria on the Golan, which the Israeli army captured in the 1967 Middle East War, is generally quiet, with few cross-border incidents reported.

Damascus - French President Nicolas Sarkozy again called for Mideast peace Tuesday, following a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the continuing conflict between Israel and the Islamist forces of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"Every party should deploy and exercise pressure on Hamas so that weapons should be quiet and silent," said Sarkozy, who has faulted Hamas for prompting the Israeli attack with a week of missile attacks into Israel after a ceasefire expired December 19.

Damascus  - A Syrian official said Sunday that Syria will suspend indirect peace talks with Israel after Israeli attacks on Gaza that killed more than 280 people, as thousands protested in Damascus, Al-Arabiya TV reported.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had said that direct talks between the two countries are possible, if ongoing indirect talks proved fruitful. Over the last couple of months, Turkey has been acting as a mediator for indirect talks.

A key point of contention between Israel and Syria is the Golan Heights, which Israel took from Syria in the 1967 war and still occupies

Meanwhile, thousands of people protested in Syria, demanding a halt to the raids.

Beirut  - Lebanese officials reported Saturday they are set to open up an embassy in Syria, a day after the Syrian flag was hoisted over that country's new embassy in Beirut.

The new embassies represent the first official diplomatic ties between the two countries since 1943. Lebanon and Syria agreed to the new diplomatic opening in a joint statement October 15.

Damascus  - Direct talks between Israel and Syria are a possibility, says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Monday, provided that ongoing indirect talks yield fruit.

"The peace process is similar to a process of a building, it has to be based first on solid foundations," said al-Assad, referring to the indirect peace talks with Israel. "If the indirect talks are successful they will lead to direct talks as a second stage. Afterwards peace will come naturally," al-Assad added.

Beirut - Lebanon named an ambassador to Syria Saturday in another step toward normalizing relations between the two countries.

The move comes after the neighbouring countries reached an agreement in October to establish diplomatic ties for the first time since they gained independence from France in the 1940s.

Information Minister Tarek Mitri said after a cabinet meeting that the position will go to Michel Khoury, currently Lebanon's ambassador to Cyprus.