SIRTE, Libya - Syria and Libya teamed Sunday to pressure the Palestinian leader to quit peace talks with Israel and return to violence, delegates to an Arab leadership summit said. An adviser to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas quickly rejected the suggestion, calling for the 22 nations represented at the gathering in Sirte, Libya, to be "realistic is". Despite the opposition from two of Israel's long time foes, the summit was expected Sunday to renew backing for Palestinian peace talks with Israel. Still, the calls to abandon the effort reflected the depth of frustration and anger over the stalled process and continued Israeli construction of settlements in areas claimed by the Palestinians, particularly east Jerusalem. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had urged Abbas to withdraw from a US-supported peace strategy and resume armed resistance to Israel, according to two delegates who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. They said Assad also urged Arab countries to halt any contacts with Israel, though only Egypt and Jordan have peace deals with the Jewish state. "The price of resistance is not higher than the price of peace," one delegate quoted Assad as telling Abbas. Summit host Moammar Gadaffi of Libya warned that his nation will withdraw support for an initiative launched at a 2002 Arab League summit in Beirut calling for exchanging land for peace with Israel, the delegates said. Senior aide to Abbas Nabil Abu Rdeneh dismissed the pressure. "Let us be realistic. We will not follow those who have special agendas," he told the Qatari TV Al-Jazeera. "We are ready for any Arab option. If they want to go to war let them declare that and mobilise their armies and their people and we will follow suit," Abu Rdeneh said. Earlier this month, Arab nations opened the door for Abbas to enter four months of indirect, American-brokered peace talks with Israel. But they later threatened to withdraw support for the negotiations after Israel announced plans for new Jewish homes in east Jerusalem, the part of the city Palestinians claim as the capital of a future state.
