On Albright's visit to the region

American and Arab sources in Washington said on Monday that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would like to hear during her next tour of the Middle East between December 5 and 9 from Syrian officials what is needed to eliminate the current obstacles preventing returning back to the negotiating table.

The sources continued that the Syrian side is suspended, especially as Syria has not announced any change in its announced stand on the need for a prior announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to approve his withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 borders, a demand which is evaluated by the sources as "very, very difficult."

The sources continued that Albright feels that time is passing quickly concerning the timetable set to end the final status negotiations on the Palestinian track in February 2000. Therefore, the US Middle East peace process coordinator's visit to Israel and Gaza three days before her arrival in Israel on December 7 in order to prepare for the visit and try to settle certain pending problems and details before her arrival, because she does not want to get herself involved in disputes such as the withdrawal from 5% of the Palestinian territories, which was supposed to be made in the middle of November.

The sources went on saying that if the negotiators ask for the intervention of the US to settle such limited disputes and getting Albright dragged into such details, "This will not be a good start for their success in reaching an agreement according to the set timetable."

Albright's visit to the region is not surprising. It was discussed during the meeting held between the US President Bill Clinton, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Barak in Oslo. It was agreed then that Albright is to visit the region in the beginning of December to give a push forward to the negotiations and discuss the possibility of convening a tripartite summit in February, next year. Ambassador Martin Indyk will take part in the tour.

During her visit to Cairo the US officials expect tension to prevail on Albright's talks with the Egyptian officials as a result of the Egyptian plane crash incident.

However, Egyptian-American relations had deteriorated before the Oslo summit due to disputes between the two sides on certain aspects concerning the Middle East peace process. Among these aspects were Egypt's opposition to resuming the multilateral talks before achieving tangible progress on the Palestinian track and before resuming the Syrian peace track.

Relations were further complicated following the October 31 EgyptAir plane crash and what had followed of leaked accusations exchanged by the press of the two sides.

Meanwhile, the British envoy Lord Michael Levy has started a visit to Syria in a framework of efforts exerted by his country to relaunch the Middle East peace process on the Syrian-Israeli peace track.

British diplomatic sources said that Levy, who is a member of the British House of Lords, is carrying a message to the Syrian authorities on means of restoring the Syrian and Israeli sides to the negotiations table.

One source said that Levy may meet once again with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in order to find the proper ground for resuming negotiations.

Lord Levy, who is considered one of the prominent figures in the Jewish community in Britain, had visited Damascus in April and June and met during his two visits with President Hafez al-Assad.

Last Thursday, the European Union's Middle East peace process coordinator, Miguel Angel Moratinos, stated in Damascus that British and French efforts are being made in order to facilitate the resumption of the Syrian-Israeli talks.