January 12, 1996
Web posted at: 11:30 p.m. EST (0430 GMT)
From Correspondent Steve Hurst
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Shaky peace negotiations between Israel and Syria gained momentum in Damascus Friday as Syrian President Hafez al-Assad accepted an Israeli proposal to add military experts to talks scheduled to resume later this month in the United States.
"I believe we have crossed an important threshold in these negotiations," U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said Friday. Christopher is representing the United States-backed effort to broker peace talks between the two bitter enemies.
Christopher made the announcement after being closeted for nearly five hours with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad at his mountain-top palace before flying back to Jerusalem.
The inclusion of military experts could make it easier for the two sides to bargain over fortifying the border if Israel agrees to pull back from the contentious Golan Heights.
"I don't want to minimize the difficulties, the challenges that lie ahead, for there's obviously much hard work to be done," Christopher said Friday. "But at the same time I believe that both President Assad and Prime Minister (Shimon) Peres are determined to see a completion." (230K AIFF sound or 230K WAV sound)
On his 16th shuttle trip to these parts, Christopher arrived in Damascus Friday, and followed it up with a visit to Israel. He plans to return again at the end of the month.
The renewed bid for peace between Israel and Syria, which began following the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin last November, is being hailed by all sides as the best hope yet for peace.
Israel and Syria have held sporadic peace talks over the past four years, but each time, the negotiations have foundered over the issues of Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights and security arrangements between the two states.
But senior U.S. administration officials said Friday's session with Assad was marked, for the first time, by a genuine give-and-take. One U.S. official said Syria made considerable concessions.
Assad apparently took notes during the discussions, and met with Christopher one-on-one for 15 minutes at the end.
The talks are still focusing on the Syrian demand that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 war. Israel wants a full peace with Syria before that happens, including the establishment of diplomatic and economic ties.
"These discussions have a very substantive character," Christopher said. "We're discussing the hardest issues. And I think the parties have come to an understanding of the concept of comprehensiveness."
Christopher will next meet with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres for the second time during the mission to update him before flying back to Washington.
Israel and Syria will hold their next formal discussions on January 24 at the remote Wye Plantation in Maryland, where they met for two earlier post-Christmas rounds of talks.
Christopher and Peres have been hammering home the need to accelerate the peace talks so that an agreement can be wrapped up before Israeli elections in October. If Assad continues to shower his blessings, there seems to be little standing in the way of an accord.
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