Netanyahu, Putin discuss Syria in phone call

Jerusalem Nov 22 (IANS) Israel s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a telephonic conversation a media report said.

The talks took place a day after Putin s meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

According to the Hebrew-language Ynet news site an Israeli official said that Netanyahu and Putin spoke over the phone on Tuesday night for "about half-an-hour" and discussed Iran s attempts to gain a foothold in Syria Xinhua news agency reported.

Putin held several talks over the phone with leaders to update them on his Monday meeting with al-Assad including with US President Donald Trump and King Salman of Saudi Arabia.

The talks came a day after al-Assad held a surprising visit to the Russian city of Sochi to discuss political process in Syria.

According to the Kremlin that joint military operations in Syria are "coming to an end " with the focus shifting to a political process.

Israel has been lobbying Russia and the US against the establishment of permanent Iranian bases in Syria.

However according to local media reports a ceasefire agreement promoted by the US and Russia does not include a ban on Iranian military presence in Syria.

Israel and Syria share a disputed border in the Golan Heights a territory that Israel seized from Syria in the 1976 Middle East War and annexed it later in a step never recognised by the international community.

Israel has been carrying out occasional airstrikes against Syrian army positions usually in response to errant fire from the six-year war between the Bashar Assad regime and rebel groups.

--IANS
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