http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/world/middleeast/05damascus.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

BEIRUT, Lebanon – President Bashar al-Assad of Syria said Thursday that his country had made specific proposals for peace with Israel to Turkish mediators, but that the latest round of indirect negotiations between the states had been postponed because of internal Israeli politics, and that the outcome would depend on who becomes Israel’s next prime minister in the coming elections there.

Mr. Assad spoke at a news conference in Damascus alongside the leaders of France, Turkey and Qatar, in a televised appearance seemingly intended to underscore Syria’s work to emerge from American-led efforts to isolate it diplomatically. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France arrived in Syria on Wednesday, the first visit there by a Western head of state in five years.

Mr. Assad’s reference to the postponement of talks with Israel follows the announcement by the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, that he will resign once his party chooses a new leader in party elections this month, which has cast a new layer of uncertainty over Middle East peace talks.

“We are now waiting for the Israeli elections to define the future of this stage,” Mr. Assad said. “We want support of all countries.”

Syrian and Israeli representatives have held several rounds of meetings this year via Turkish mediators. But the Israeli negotiator, Yoram Turbowicz, announced his resignation as Mr. Olmert’s chief of staff in July, shortly after Mr. Olmert said he would leave office.

The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was quoted by the state-run Anatolian News Agency as saying that the next round of talks would take place this month, Reuters reported.

Mr. Assad did not specify the proposals he had passed to the Turkish mediators. But Syria’s chief goal in the talks is to regain the Golan Heights, an area captured by Israel during the 1967 war. Israel hopes to pull Syria diplomatically away from Iran, which backs the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

Mr. Sarkozy’s visit to Syria follows Mr. Assad’s participation in a conference in Paris in July at Mr. Sarkozy’s invitation.

During the news conference in Damascus, Mr. Sarkozy defended his decision to visit Syria and was asked about Syria’s long-troubled relations with Lebanon, which Syria largely dominated for three decades prior to 2005. France has long viewed itself as a protector of Lebanon.

“I am not sorry to have opened the door with the Syrian president,” Mr. Sarkozy said. “We will work together to build confidence, and we will affirm Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence.”

Mr. Assad said Syria and Lebanon would exchange ambassadors in the coming months, reaffirming a commitment that has played a role in the détente between Syria and France.

Mr. Sarkozy said he would be interested in sponsoring direct talks in the future between Syria and Israel, should such direct talks happen, signaling an interest in playing a role as a Middle East peace broker, a role most often played in recent years by the United States.

Also present at the news conference was Mr. Erdogan and the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Qatar has taken on a new role as a prominent regional power broker, especially since Qatari diplomats successfully mediated a new peace agreement between Lebanon’s feuding political factions in May.

Turkey has also played an important role this year as mediator in the peace negotiations between Israel and Syria toward a comprehensive peace treaty, the first talks in eight years.

Mr. Assad said he had received from the French president a letter written by the father of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier with French nationality captured two years ago by the Palestinian group Hamas, which has its headquarters in Syria.

Mr. Assad said he had passed the letter to the Qatari emir. The letter is intended for the Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, who lives in Damascus.