On the current Syrian-Israeli negotiations in Washington

In its Monday report, Israeli Radio said that issues to be debated in the Israeli-Syrian negotiations are connected to normalization and security arrangements in the course of negotiation committees, while the question of borders will be discussed at the conclusion of the negotiations.

The radio report said Syria views the question of borders as "taken for granted" and that first of all discussions should deal with the withdrawal from the Golan, then the nature of peace, and then security arrangements, while Israel sees that security, normalization, waters and border issues should be debated first.

The radio quoted a high-ranking US source in Shepherdstown, site of the negotiations, as saying that 80% of the debated matters between Israel and Syria have been agreed upon.

The radio report continued that the US will pressure Syria to make initiatives for building confidence, saying this will be necessary to convince Israeli public opinion on the privilege of making peace with Syria as well as to soften the stand of the US Congress towards Syria.

The Israeli Radio continued that among the measures for building confidence is to permit Israeli journalists to visit Syria.

Israeli sources close to Prime Minister Ehud Barak indicated a sort of understanding between Israel and Syria that the joint work teams will start discussions on the following topics: normalization, security arrangements while issues on the borders and water sources will be discussed at a later date.

The sources indicated that the Israeli- Syrian negotiations will last for one week and most of their events will be held away from the media coverage.

An Israeli expert on Syrian affairs at the Dayan Institute at Tel Aviv University Dr Abal Gieter remarked that the atmospheres in Damascus indicate that this round of negotiations are serious and may lead to peace between Syria and Israel.

In an interview made on Monday with the Israeli radio Geiter underlined the importance of Syria's making proposals for building confidence with Israel for the sake of the Israeli public opinion.