Middle East salutes Assad

Israel said it understood the sorrow of the people of Syria at the death of their president.

A statement from the office of the prime minister, Ehud Barak, said Israel would continue to work for a peace deal with Syria.

The BBC Middle East correspondent says President Assad had found it impossible to make the compromises that Israel wanted.

In an interview with the BBC, the Arab League Secretary-General, Ismat Abdel-Magid, warned Israel against any manipulation of the peace process in the aftermath of his death.

The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, declared three days of official mourning in the Palestinian territories.

The Lebanese prime minister, Selim Hoss, said President Assad's death was a catastrophe for Lebanon.

King Abdallah of Jordan declared forty days of mourning.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service