Talks With Syria Back on Track, Israel Official Says
Ending a 15-month deep freeze, Israeli and Syrian peace negotiators have regained some lost momentum during their latest two-week round of peace talks, which ended Thursday, Israeli Ambassador Itamar Rabinovitch said.
He likened the new attitude to the one that produced the only significant progress the two sides have made--an October, 1992, agreement on four of five articles of a draft peace pact.
However, a senior Israeli official said there were no breakthroughs on the key issues of Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights and the nature of peace between the two bitter antagonists. The official said that higher-level talks, perhaps between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Syrian President Hafez Assad, will be required to break the impasse.
State Department spokesman Mike McCurry said the United States suggested a two-week recess so the delegations can confer with their governments. He said the talks will resume Feb. 15.
The focus of the Washington talks is entirely on the Israel-Syria track because Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization are engaged in higher-level meetings elsewhere.
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