Lasting peace in W Asia still far away

Lasting peace in W Asia still far away
Agence France Presse

WASHINGTON, DEC 18: Syria, emerging globally relieved from historic talks with Israel here, was bracing itself on Friday for more tough negotiations in two weeks on a final peace settlement aimed at ending half a century of conflict.

``We are very satisfied with the two days of negotiations and with the issues that we have agreed on,'' a member of the Syrian delegation told AFP as the team left the White House on Thursday at the end of two days of high-level talks. ``This is a start, we still have a lot to talk about in the coming rounds,'' said another delegate, who also declined to be identified.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara earlier expressed the same satisfaction at the outcome of cloistered US-mediated talks which decided a new round of talks on January 3 with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Much anxiousness had preceded the Shara-Barak encounter the highest-level meeting ever between Syria and Israel, probably the two most implacable enemies in the Middle East.

Shara, who had kepteveryone in the suspense as to whether he would shake Barak's hand, eventually refused to do so. He even rocked the first day with an unexpectedly barbed opening statement that irked the Israelis by accusing them of provoking the 1967 war, in which the Golan Heights was captured by Israel from Syria and then annexed in 1981.

The Golan lies at the heart of the conflict between Israel and Syria which demands the full restoration of its sovereignty over the area. Israeli and Syrian negotiators however overcame the flap with an ice-breaking mediation by the United States and went on to engage in detailed discussions, although no specific information on the substance of the talks was made public.

While Shara has previously said that both sides could reach an agreement ``within months,'' the January talks involve tough discussions on many sensitive issues such as the pullout from the Golan, security arrangements, water sharing, peace and timetables. And though White House officials said those negotiations willgo on as long as they make progress, an Israeli official said that Barak was not willing to conduct open-ended negotiations without the promise of a comprehensive agreement, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The resumption of the talks after nearly four years was also expected to kick start stalled Middle East peace tracks, particularly Lebanon's peace talks with Israel which have been frozen since 1994, awaiting progress on the Syrian track. Syria is the main power broker in Lebanon, which demands a complete Israeli withdrawal from the southern part of the country, in line with the 1978 United Nations Security Council Resolution 425.

The issue of occupied southern Lebanon was discussed in length at the Washington talks, with conflicting reports from both delegations about anti-Israeli guerrilla operations. A senior Israeli official attending the Syrian-Israeli peace talks here said Thursday that Shara has pledged that Damascus will rein in ``the enemies of peace'' in Lebanon in the context of anagreement with Israel.

But sources close to the Syrian delegation were quick to retort that it was too soon to discuss such questions. And at the end of the day, Syria still needs to work a lot on many fronts, and even on regaining the Golan.