Israel report: U.S. working out final details of peace pact

JERUSALEM [MENL] -- Israel and Syria have issued conflicting reports on the prospect of an imminent resumption of peace negotiations.

Israeli state television said negotiations are being quietly conducted by the United States and will be completed within a month. The television said the accord will include a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights as well as an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and will be presented to the Cabinet for approval before April 20, the Jewish holiday of Passover.

"The text is ready, the wording has been worked out," television special correspondent Amnon Abramowitz said. "The professional teams have finished their work, the details have been concluded and it only remains to be decided. It is a complete peace deal meeting the demands of both sides.

Education Minister Yossi Sarid appeared to agree. "The peace agreement is in reach, and if we stretch out our hands we can touch it," he said.

The report said Israel will maintain sovereignty over the entire Sea of Galilee and the Jordan river. Other portions of the reported accord are security arrangements and Israeli control of water resources. It did not mention whether Israel would have an early-warning station in Mount Hermon, the highest point in the region.

But the Kuwaiti daily A-Rai Al Aam reported that Prime Minister Ehud Barak is considering shelving his demand for an early warning station. The newspaper said the Israeli military leadership insists on an early-warning station.

For his part, Barak issued a denial of the Israel television report. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin dismissed the report although other U.S. officials said progress has been made in mediation efforts between Israel and Syria.

"There is no new development to justify reports of a breakthrough," Rubin said. "There is no reason to believe at this point, no new development to justify a groundswell of optimism."

On Sunday, the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat quoted a senior Lebanese official who confirmed previous reports that President Bill Clinton is arranging a summit in Geneva between Barak and Syrian President Hafez Assad. The official told the newspaper that the issue was discussed by Swiss Foreign Minister Joseph Diess during his tour of Beirut and Damascus last week.

In Damascus, a Syrian official told reporters the Israeli report was baseless. The denial came as Syrian sources said President Hafez Assad was expected to announce a new government this week. The London-based Al Hayat daily said on Sunday that the new Cabinet would contain technocrats.