Syria's U.N. ambassador on Monday dismissed rumors of secret Syrian-Israeli talks and reiterated Damascus' call for Israel to resume peace negotiations that stalled seven years ago.

Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari stressed that Syria "has always dealt publicly" with the Arab-Israeli conflict and peace talks between Syria and Israel.

Peace talks broke down in 2000 after Syria demanded that Israel withdraw from the entire Golan Heights, which it captured in the 1967 war, and Israel refused to make such a pledge until issues of security and normalization of relations were settled.

Syrian President Bashar Assad recently urged Israel to return to the negotiating table, but has not publicly addressed Israel's demand that Damascus scale back its ties with Iran, its main ally in the region, and stop backing Lebanese and Palestinian groups sworn to destroy Israel.

Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz said earlier this month that the government had put out secret peace feelers to Syria, but there was so far no response from Damascus. His comment followed an Israeli newspaper report that Israel had told Syrian leaders it could give up the Golan Heights if Syria would distance itself from Iran's virulently anti-Israel regime.

"I would like to dismiss all these rumors giving the impression that there were any Syrian-Israeli secret talks," Ja'afari told reporters.

"The Syrian position has always been clear with this regard: We call on the Israelis to resume the negotiations of peace that were stalled in the year 2000 after the visit of (then-Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon to the mosque Al-Aksa in Jerusalem," he said.

In the past, Israeli and U.S. officials have said privately that Washington didn't want Israel to talk with Syria because of its ties to militants in Iraq and its meddling in Lebanon. But President Bush is under pressure from allies, lawmakers and advisers who think Washington should improve relations with Syria in an effort to isolate Iran.

Syria backed Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon during their war with Israel last summer, while the political leadership of the Palestinian militant group Hamas is headquartered in Damascus.

The Associated Press