Clinton plans one last peace drive with Syria
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Sunday, April 30, 2000
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.
Sunday, April 130, 2000
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