'We have to be alert,' Syrian president warns after Israeli election

June 3, 1996
Web posted at: 8:00 p.m. EDT (2400 GMT)

From Correspondent James Martone

CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- Arab leaders have been somewhat restrained in their public statements about last week's Israeli elections, but Syrian President Hafez Assad said officially Monday what other leaders had only been saying behind closed doors.

"We don't have the feeling that things are going well. For that reason I said we have to be alert, in order not to be fooled," Assad said after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. It was the first in a series of high-level Arab talks intended to coordinate reaction to the election of Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister.

Future of Syrian-Israeli peace talks uncertain

Netanyahu's rise to power has given Arab leaders reason to re-evaluate their relationship with Israel. And Syria, which has been engaged in peace talks with Israel, has particular reason for concern since Netanyahu campaigned, in part, on promises that the occupied Golan Heights would never return to Syria's control.

Syria maintains no peace with Israel can ever be achieved without complete restoration of the Golan, captured by Israeli soldiers in 1967.

Referring to Netanyahu's acceptance speech in which returning Golan was not mentioned, Assad said the present circumstances would not allow for immediate resumption of Syrian-Israeli peace talks

Mubarak urges caution

Mubarak took advantage of Monday's summit to reiterate calls for patience on the part of Arabs.

"We must wait and see the position of the Israeli government after it is formed," Mubarak said.

Mubarak has been at the forefront of Arab-Israeli peace deals and has served as Assad's mediator in the past both in negotiations with Israel, as well as in Syria's disputes with some of its neighbors.

In a sign that Damascus is still uneasy about other Arab- Israeli peace deals, Assad will not be present at a summit Wednesday in Aqaba, Jordan, when leaders of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority -- already officially at peace with the Jewish state -- will gather.

Related stories:

• Netanyahu asks Arabs to pursue 'peace with security' - June 2, 1996
• Netanyahu's agenda would affect peace - May 30, 1996
• Israeli election draws mixed reactions - May 30, 1996
• Israel retaliates for Hezbollah attack - May 19, 1996
• Israel-Syria peace still elusive - May 18, 1996

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