Clinton to meet Assad as latter's health worsens

WASHINGTON -- Syrian President Hafez Assad has agreed to meet U.S. President Bill Clinton in Geneva next week in an effort to renew peace negotiations between Damascus and Israel.

Clinton said the meeting would take place on Sunday on the return from his current six-day visit to South Asia.

"I think this is the appropriate thing for me to do to get this back on track," Clinton said on Monday. "I do intend to go to Switzerland to meet with President Assad. We'll just have to see what comes out of the talks."

White House spokesman Jake Siewert said he had no further details. Assad and Clinton last met in Geneva in 1994.

"I don't want to unduly raise expectations," Clinton said, "but I think that this is an appropriate thing for me to do to try to get this back on track so that our objective of having a comprehensive peace can go forward."

National Security Adviser Samuel Berger said a meeting with Assad is necessary to advance peace efforts. "I don't expect an instant result from the meeting but hopefully it can move the process forward," Berger said. "You can't move this thing forward without a face-to-face meeting with Assad. The president felt and [Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Barak agreed the way to see whether that's possible was for the president to meet directly with Assad."

In Jerusalem, Barak sounded cautious. "We hope that the meeting will lead to a resumption of the negotiations," a Barak spokesman said. "This will only come about if conditions are ripe. If there are direct talks between Israel and Syria, Israel will work towards concluding a peace agreement while assuring its vital interests and strengthening its security."

Israeli minister Haim Ramon said the Barak government does not understand why Syria has refused to renew the talks "because as everybody knows the Israeli government declared that we are prepared to pay a substantial territorial and a painful price for peace and security."

The reference was to Barak's concession to withdraw to the June 4, 1967 lines. Syria, however, wants control of the Sea of Galilee, something Barak has rejected.

In Damascus, there was no immediate comment on Clinton's plans to meet Assad. The Syrian dailies, however, warned Barak not to delay meeting Assad's demands.

"These leaders must choose between peace and occupation, between security and expansion, and if they don't do it today, they will be forced to make up their minds very soon," the Syrian government daily Tishrin said.

Arab diplomatic sources said the two presidents will discuss a U.S.-draft of a peace treaty. They said Assad has for weeks failed to respond to the draft sent to Damascus.

Western diplomatic sources said Assad's agreement to meet Clinton comes as the health of the Syrian president continues to deteriorate. They said this might explain why Assad decided to meet Clinton in what could be a last-minute effort to complete a peace agreement with Israel.

Diplomatic sources said a senior European official who met Assad over the last two weeks reported that his condition has worsened. The official said Assad has difficulty both in walking and talking and that his sentences are often completed by Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk A-Shaara.

The official told Israeli diplomats that Assad was never seen in worse condition. He said that Assad often appeared unaware of his surroundings.

Israeli government sources said Assad's condition is a key reason for the delay in resumption in negotiations and the hardline Syrian positions.

On Monday, Assad is scheduled to meet Qatar Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani. The emir arrives for a two-day visit and is expected to pledge support for Syria and offer him economic aid as part of any Israeli-Syrian peace treaty, diplomatic sources said.

Earlier, Irish Defense Minister Michael Smith met his Syrian counterpart, Mustafa Tlas. The London-based Al Hayat daily reported on Monday that the two men discussed Irish participation in an international peacekeeping force on the Golan Heights in the wake of a peace treaty between Israel and Syria.

Another issue discussed was the prospect of cooperation between the Irish and Syrian militaries. The European Union has raised the prospect of both military and economic aid to Damascus as part of any peace treaty with Israel.