Olmert: "Assad is the president of Syria. He enjoys fairly effective control over his country, and I'm looking forward to negotiating with him"

lally Weymouth interviews Olmert in Newsweek, here

Q: Officials in the U.S. government are reportedly concerned that Syria's real price for peace is Lebanon. The U.S. is interested in the survival of the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora. A: I know what our expectations are. I know what the Americans' expectations are. I'm not going to do anything which [is in contradiction] to what my understanding of [what] the fundamental interests of the United States are in this part of the world.