Assad’s Presence a Must for Peace Deal, Barak Says

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview published Friday that Hafez Assad will have to meet him face-to-face if the Syrian president wants to close a peace deal.

Barak, who has been negotiating with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shareh, said that progress can be made at that level but that “there are some issues we cannot decide on without President Clinton and myself sitting opposite President Assad.” The next round of talks begins Wednesday.

According to the paper Maariv, Barak warned the Syrians that they are taking a dangerous gamble by keeping Lebanon, a Syrian client state, out of the negotiations.

Israeli media have reported that Syria will not let Lebanon resume talks with Israel until the Jewish state promises to withdraw from the Golan Heights. Barak, in turn, is under pressure to fulfill a campaign promise to withdraw Israeli troops from southern Lebanon by July.