Clinton confers with al-Sharaa, Barak

The Israeli daily Haaretz said on Thursday that US President Bill Clinton on Wednesday evening held an unofficial reception for the heads of the Syrian and Israeli delegations to the peace talks in Shepherdstown, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

The paper added that Clinton talked in a speech he delivered during the reception about the civil war in the USA which took place near Shepherdstown, west Virginia, the place where talks are being held between Syria and Israel, and resulted in killing hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Clinton also talked about the importance of decisions to be taken in Shepherdstown on the souls of hundreds thousands and millions of people in the Middle East.

The Israeli paper indicated that Barak, who talked during the reception in English and some Arabic, underlined the importance of seizing the historic opportunity presented by the Shepherdstown negotiations.

The paper added that al-Sharaa expressed, for his part, his hope of overcoming obstacles and fulfilling the set mission.