Damascus  - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said that Syria cannot progress even one step forward in negotiations before it receives assurances that Israel will fully withdraw from the Golan Heights, the Pan-Arab al-Haya newspaper said on Thursday.

"This is not a precondition, it's Syria's right," al-Muallem was quoted as saying to al-Hayat while speaking from Bahrain's Manama.

Syrian sources said that reaching a reasonable ground in the Syrian-Israeli negotiations will lead to "direct negotiations," before the end of the presidency term of US President George Bush.

Sources stressed that Syria will not miss any real opportunity to achieve peace, provided that the Palestinian peace negotiations are not negatively affected.

Meanwhile, the Israel-Syrian negotiations are conducted under Turkish auspices, without direct contact of both sides.

The Lebanese deal to solve the political crisis and the start of in-direct Israel-Syrian talks are considered " a new phase" in Syrian relations with many Arab countries and the US.

Many Arab countries, like Egypt and Saudi Arabia along with the US, used to link Syria with the political stand off in Lebanon, Syrian sources said. (dpa)