Syrian commentator and al-Assad - Clinton summit
Syria-Israel-USA, Politics, 3/21/2000

The BBC on Monday highlighted in its report the news of convening a summit between President Hafez al-Assad and the US President Bill Clinton in Geneva next Sunday.

The radio hosted for this purpose Syrian commentator Imad al-Sheibi and asked him about the possibility of convening this meeting and its importance from the Syrian perspective. Al-Sheibi said: "Unless there was an agreement between President Clinton and President al-Assad, the US president would not have declared that there is a meeting."

He added that this news has two dimensions. The first is political in that there is a US will to reach a solution on the Syrian- Israeli track under the term of the US president during the two coming months, at least. He added that Syria has expressed this very stand recently through its defense minister, Mustafa Tlass, who stressed that US efforts are exerted on the Syrian- Israeli track and that such great efforts will meet with success during the coming months.

Al-Sheibi added that the second dimension behind this news has a symbolic significance in having a meeting at the midway between Damascus and Washington, a matter which means that Washington actually wants to be a broker, besides choosing Geneva as the venue for the meeting as a symbol of neutrality has also its own significance on the final touches which may add to the US efforts to result in a detente on the Syrian track.

Replying to a question on what Syria expects from the US president, al-Sheibi said that President al-Assad will ask President Clinton to push the Israeli side to abide by what has been agreed upon in order to return to the negotiating table, a fact which was implied by the statement made by the US president that returning to the negotiations which had started four months ago will be resumed from the point at which they broke off, in that the US president had promised the Syrians that immediately after the conclusion of the negotiations Barak will admit to Rabin's deposit and start with border demarcation.

Al-Sheibi continued all this did not take place, and thereby the Syrians will ask today for guarantees so as not to be prey to Israeli maneuvers, adding that they will not only ask for officially recognizing Rabin's deposit and starting border demarcation but also for exchanging documents and maps through the US mediator, according to which borders are demarcated, saying that the Syrians have become more cautious due to the bad experience that took place in Shepherdstown.

On whether he expects a Syrian- Israeli meeting following the meeting between Clinton and al-Assad, al-Sheibi added, "I think there will be a new breakthrough we will witness in the coming phase. "This meeting, he said, will be of special importance because it will not be convened for getting acquainted as was the case at the beginning of the 1990s, rather it is being held to reach a result that puts an end to a phase of negotiations on the Syrian- Israeli tracks.

He concluded, "Personally there is a great American effort being made now and President al-Assad is very close to hoisting the Syrian flag over the whole of the Golan."

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