Report: No stability without Golan return, Albright says

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has asserted there will be no stability in the Middle East region without the return of the Golan Heights to Syria.

Israel Radio on Sunday quoted the Israeli daily Maariv as saying that Albright had confirmed that the US is exerting its utmost in order to resume talks on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks. She continued that although the talks on these tracks are passing through a critical stage, there is a possibility of achieving a new breakthrough.

The US secretary of state stressed that peace talks on the Syrian track must start from the point at which they left off.

The Israeli daily Maariv had closely followed up the closed-door meeting held between Albright and Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy. The meeting, which was held in New York, was attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, Palestinian Minister of International Cooperation Nabil Shaath, and the representatives of the European Union and Japan.