Meeting between al-Sharaa, Barak and Clinton on after delay
Syria-Israel-USA, Politics, 1/5/2000

A trilateral meeting held yesterday between Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and US President Bill Clinton was "quite productive," US State Department Spokesman James Rubin said yesterday. "It was a comprehensive and rigorous discussion of where we
are and where we need to get to."

The trilateral meeting was originally to be held on Monday, but had to be postponed. Israeli Radio said on Tuesday morning that US President Bill Clinton left Shepherdstown for Washington Monday after he had failed in convening the tripartite meeting.

The radio report added that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright moved between Barak and al-Sharaa in an attempt to contain the critical differences that emerged on Monday between the two sides upon resuming the Israeli-Syrian negotiations in Shepherdstown.

Clinton said yesterday that the decision not to hold the trilateral meeting on Monday as scheduled "was partly my decision. We just had a lot of other work to do."

Rubin characterized yesterday's trilateral meeting as "a very constructive and productive session that put the process clearly on track and that the President and the Secretary felt that it was a comprehensive discussion; it was a rigorous discussion; and that what was particularly important to them was that the leaders of the delegations reaffirmed their commitment to what we're trying to do here."

He said the discussions between al-Sharaa Barak, and Clinton "did not get into
details but, obviously, they made clear the importance of solving the various problems."

Rubin said, "There's a work plan, there's an organizational structure, there's a commitment to do the work" in the talks.

On the development of the talks, he said, "We're going to stay here through the week and then we'll have to see where we stand."

Israel Radio added that Israeli ministers and Knesset members in both the Israeli opposition and governmental coalition in Yisrael Be`aliyah, al-Mifdal and Likud are planning to propose a new law that calls for holding a referendum this year on the question of whether to return the Golan to Syria for peace with a majority of 60% of votes.

The radio report added that the Israeli Knesset is also studying a draft law by Likud Knesset member Silvan Shalom for early voting over the referendum on the Golan.

Previous Stories:
  Second round of Israel- Syrian peace talks open in Washington   (1/4/2000)
  Al-Sharaa leaves for Washington   (1/3/2000)
  US official: Peace talks to be held in Shepherdstown, West Virginia   (12/23/1999)

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