Clinton: Talks to restart between Syria and Israel
Syria-Israel-USA, Politics, 12/8/1999

US President Bill Clinton said today that talks are to resume next week between Syria and Israel from the point at which they broke off.
Syria has insisted that talks can only be resumed from the point at which they broke off in 1996 as Syria has insisted that Israel honor previous pledges by the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to withdraw fully from the occupied Syrian Golan.

Clinton said that initial talks will take place next week in the US and last for one or two days between Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa, after which talks will move back to the Middle East and intensify.

Referring to the Palestinian track, Clinton expressed hopes of a rapid pace of negotiations to produce a framework for the final agreement by mid-February with final status talks being finished by mid-September, 2000.

Clinton also expressed his hope that talks will begin between Israel and Lebanon.

Clinton said the negotiations will be conducted "on the basis of all previous negotiations" between Syria and Israel. He said, "I will spare no time or effort" to ensure the success of this endeavor. "Both parties have sufficient confidence that their needs can be met through negotiations," Clinton added.

Clinton said that he talked today on the phone with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and indicated that he "is very personally involved in this."

Previous Stories:
  The real diplomatic battle between Syria and Israel, report   (12/7/1999)
  Syrian FM warnes against Israel's ignorance of UN resolutions   (12/4/1999)
  Barak and the Middle East peace process   (12/4/1999)
  Israel secretary seeks resumption of negotiations with Syria   (11/18/1999)

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