On Rabin's commitment to withdraw from the Golan

In an article he wrote in the London-based al-Hayat daily published on Monday, British journalist and writer Patrick Seale asserted that former US Secretary of State Warren Christopher "himself" announced after his shuttle between Syria and Israel in the period between July 19 and 22, 1994 that "[former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin has committed himself to a full withdrawal from the Golan to the June 4th, 1967 border lines."

Seale added that several days later, "President Clinton telephoned President Hafez al-Assad and agreed with him on a major achievement accomplished by Christopher's recent shuttle."

Seale continued that it was clear that US President Clinton and former US Secretary of State Christopher considered Rabin's commitment as "real." They conveyed this commitment to Syria, Seale noted.

He continued that Rabin did not put at that time a "suppositional question" as they say now, but he made a clear commitment to withdraw from the Golan to the June 4, 1967 lines. Seale added, "This commitment is recorded in the Arabic and the American minutes and deposited now in the files of the US National Security Council."

Concerning security arrangements, Seale added that a "one-page paper" under the title "Principles and aims of security arrangements" was concluded after great efforts and several shuttle visits made by both Christopher and Dennis Ross. It was based on the principles of mutuality and reciprocity, he commented.