Report: Steps of Syrian-Israeli negotiations
Syria-Israel, Politics, 12/17/1999

The Kuwaiti daily al-Rai al-Am quoted Israeli sources among the aides of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak as saying that Washington's talks between the Israeli and Syrian sides will not discuss maps, but the mechanism of talks. The sources spoke about draft lines and the Israeli proposals to these talks which they said are as follows:

First: The Syrians and the Israelis crystallize a principle announcement which ends the state of war and displays outlines for a peace treaty.

Negotiations are to be carried out on three steps simultaneously: security arrangements, Lebanon and normalization. The basket of normalization is vast, covering the question of waters and the role of the Israeli-Syrian agreement to maintain a comprehensive regional agreement.

Second: The US question. Against the talks between Syria and Israel the US works for international aid to finance the settlement and for regional development. In this respect political sources in Tel Aviv said that Barak believes Israel does not need to give anything to the Syrians for their withdrawal from Lebanon.

Third: The Level of talks. Israel proposes to make negotiations on a high-ranking vocational level, and the Israeli delegation is to be presided over by reserve Lt. Gen. Uri Saguy. The appointment of Saguy to this mission will be postponed until the identity of his Syrian counterpart is revealed.

Lastly Israel intends to abide by withdrawal from the Golan in three stages, and the timeline for withdrawal will be decided in the talks. The Israeli sources said Syria has recently sent a message of assurances to the Palestinian Authority by Israeli Knesset member Azmi Bishara in which it stressed that the resumption of talks will not be at the expense of the Palestinian track.

Previous Stories:
  Clinton announce negotiations are off to a good start   (12/16/1999)
  President Clinton opens Syrian - Israeli negotiations opened in Washington   (12/16/1999)
  On the resumption of Syrian-Israeli peace talks   (12/16/1999)

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