PARIS Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has said that his country was holding "indirect talks" with Israel to calm tensions between the two countries, following Israeli strikes and threats against Syria since Bashar al-Assad's ouster. "There are indirect talks [with Israel] taking place through mediators to calm the situation and try to contain the situation so it does not reach the point where it escapes the control of both sides," Sharaa told a press conference in Paris alongside French