Clinton plans one last peace drive with Syria

LONDON -- The United States is planning a final effort to complete a peace treaty between Israel and Syria.

The initiative will be launched in another month and will be led by President Bill Clinton. His immediate goal will be to restart Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations and focus on the remaining differences between the two countries.

The London-based Al Hayat daily reported on Thursday that the U.S. effort will aim to reach agreement on the disputed Sea of Galilee. Syria claims sovereignty over the northeastern shore of the lake as well as access to Israel's only body of fresh water.

The newspaper, quoting sources in Washington, said the initiative will be the last under the Clinton administration. Clinton will step down in January.

The U.S. plan comes in the wake Syria's relaying of its position regarding peace efforts with Israel. U.S. officials said the gap between Israel and Syria continues to be wide but they expressed satisfaction that Damascus remains interested in resuming negotiations with Israel.

The officials said Syria is willing to negotiate water rights in the Sea of Galilee. This has been opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, they said, who insists on control of the shore of the lake. Another dispute is over Israel's insistence for full diplomatic relations and normalization after an agreement is signed with Damascus.

In Jerusalem, Israeli officials were skeptical. They said Syria is under international pressure not to torpedo Israeli plans to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

"The Syrians are confused and they are confusing the entire world," Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy said. "This demonstrates genuine distress."

Levy said officials in Damascus fear that peace with Israel might undermine the regime of Syrian President Hafez Assad. "Their rule is more important than peace," he said.

But in Damascus, visiting Israeli parliamentarian Azmi Bishara said Assad's son and heir, Bashar, is optimistic regarding a resumption of peace efforts with Israel. Bishara, who met most of the Syrian leadership except for the president, said Damascus will not change its insistence for a full Israeli withdrawal to the lines that existed prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, in which the Jewish state captured the Golan Heights.

Currently, the United States is taking a back seat to European Union efforts to revive the Israeli-Syrian peace track. EU officials said the goal is to resume Israeli-Syrian negotiations by early June.

The officials said this was a major topic on the agenda of this week's talks between French President Jacques Chirac and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk A-Shaara. Chirac was said to have pressed A-Shaara to win Syria's agreement to cooperate with international efforts to ensure a smooth Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and quiet along the border of the two Middle East countries.

Al Hayat said Chirac warned A-Shaara against raising tension in southern Lebanon, saying this could lead to international sanctions on Damascus.