Clinton gives priority to the Syrian - Israeli track

The US Middle East peace process coordinator, Dennis Ross, has said that US President Bill Clinton is "intimately involved in trying to end a three-year-old deadlock in Israeli - Syrian talks and find a formula for lasting peace."

Ross told Reuters in an interview that US officials, after two days of talks with Israeli and Syrian leaders, would keep up contacts with both countries in the coming days and weeks.

Ross continued: "This is a process in which the President has been intimately involved. It is a measure of his commitment, a measure of his interests and a measure of the importance of his direct contacts with the parties."

Meantime, the French daily Le Figaro has expected the beginning of shuttle tours between the US, Israel and Syria during the coming months.

In its Monday issue, the French paper said that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's visit to Damascus did not yield its expected fruit, but the US mediators have reached the result that their interference will be necessary to create the correct basis for dialogue.