Israel: Israeli- Syrian negotiations to resume in October in Washington

Kamal Fawaz, the manager of the Arab affairs department in the Jerusalem office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that Israeli- Syrian negotiations will resume at the beginning of October, after the Jewish holidays, in Washington on the level of negotiators.

In statements to the Egyptian newspaper El-Ahram that were published today, Fawaz said, "It is expected that the negotiations would start from their halting point in 1996 due to the Syrian side's insistence on this point."

He added that the Syrian ambassador to Washington, Walid al-Mu'allim, will if he continues in his post, lead the Syrian delegation in these negotiations and that the talks will take place under US auspices.