US thoughts on the Syrian track

An Egyptian diplomatic source told the Lebanese paper al-Mustaqbil that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright briefed Egyptian officials on what she has described as "US thoughts to revive negotiations between Syria and Israel."

The source said that Albright discussed with the Egyptian officials means of giving a push forward to the Syrian and Lebanese tracks. The source added that Albright acquainted Cairo with ideas to revive the Syrian tracks, including, in particular, the need to reach an agreement on principles as a framework for negotiations on this track.

The source added that the US ideas also propose that each of Syria and Israel give their general outlook in a document and then direct negotiations is made in order to bring together the two outlooks and then prepare the agreement and then detailed negotiations to start on implementation steps.

The source said that the US secretary of state will give its proposals to the Syrian officials during her visit to Damascus, coupled with requests which are considered by Washington as necessary for building confidence between the two sides, especially not to permit extremist organizations from carrying out activities that would be "damaging to the peace process."