"I really found them extremely ready and anxious to resume talks as soon as possible," the EU's Middle East envoy Miguel Angel Moratinos said after talks in Damascus.

"They even think that they could achieve a final lasting peace in one year's time," he added.

Ehud Barak: Pledged a pullout within a year

Mr Barak has pledged a pull-out from south Lebanon within a year and to resume peace negotiations with Syria, the powerbroker in Lebanon.

Mr Moratinos' discussions with Syrian Foreign Minister, Farouq al-Shara followed talks in Israel with colleagues of the new prime minister.

Mr Moratinos quoted Mr Shara as saying that Syria respected Mr Barak, but needed to be cautious until a new government was formed.

Syria has held sporadic peace talks with Israel since 1991, but negotiations broke off in 1996 without agreement on the fate of the Golan Heights, which Israel annexed after capturing them in 1967.

No talks have been held since outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took office in June 1996.

Mr Moratinos said Mr Barak had set peace with Syria as one of his priorities.

"I think there is a real commitment on both sides and that there is an urgency for achieving a final agreement," he said.

Withdrawal pledge

In a series of newspaper interviews on Thursday, Mr Barak repeated his pledge that Israel would withdraw from southern Lebanon within a year.

Since winning the election, Mr Barak has faced calls from senior Israeli army officers for an immediate withdrawal from south Lebanon.

They say they cannot effectively fight the Islamic militia Hezbollah, the main guerrilla movement battling the occupation.