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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 January 2000 Issue No. 463 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 January 2000 Issue No. 463
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Heritage Millennium Features Profile Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The bargaining begins
Syrian and Israeli negotiators, a row over their agenda safely behind them, were poised yesterday to begin addressing the devilish details of a peace settlement that has eluded their two countries for half a century.
Two days after arriving in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, Syrian and Israeli delegates have regrouped into committees and are at last ready for the hard bargaining that lies before them, according to US State Department spokesman James Rubin. "We do expect that all the committees will meet and that all the issues will be discussed in the next couple of days," he said.
Rubin and other US officials were breathing easier after settling an agenda dispute, and thereby enabling US President Clinton to bring together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Sharaa in a three-way meeting on Tuesday.
Rubin described the Syrian-Israeli peace process as "clearly on track", elaborating: "There's an organisational structure, there's a commitment to do the work -- and that's important". He would not specify the areas to be addressed, but a Syrian source said they were: security arrangements for Israel, bilateral relations, borders and water rights in the Sea of Galilee.
The source said Syrian and Israeli negotiators met informally on Tuesday after the agenda row had been smoothed over. Two working groups discussed borders and water rights. The group meetings officially started yesterday, but the main hurdles remained: where is the peace demarcation line? Where will the border be? What does a "full" Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights mean? Will the Israelis withdraw to the 1923 boundary between Syria and British-mandate Palestine -- which Syria never recognised -- or to the lines of 4 June 1967? The territorial difference is minimal, but its significance in terms of water resources is immense.
A major hurdle emerged on Monday, with each side insisting that priority be given to its own concerns. Israel wanted to discuss security first but Syria insisted on taking up the withdrawal issue: how much land would Israel yield and what was the timetable for the pullback? As a result, a three-way session on Monday that was to include Clinton, Barak and Al-Sharaa was canceled.
The hurdle was overcome Tuesday with an American proposal that the committees meet simultaneously, according to a source close to the Syrian delegation.
The decision to proceed with the committee meetings came after the first face-to-face discussions between Barak and Al-Sharaa (under Clinton's auspices) since this second round of negotiations began on Monday.
Rubin called the session "more of a general discussion" than negotiations over hard issues. But he said the three leaders had "a very constructive and productive discussion that put the process clearly on track". They "reaffirmed their commitment to the process", Rubin said, but added that Barak and Al-Sharaa apparently did not shake hands.
Rubin cautioned that it is not expected that a "core" agreement will be reached within the coming days, "given the extraordinary difficulty and sensitivity of many of these issues that are outstanding".
Israeli press reports suggested that Barak had asked Clinton for a $17 billion military assistance package to guarantee Israel's security following a withdrawal from the Golan. This figure does not include the money Israel may ask for to relocate the Israeli settlers.
In remarks to reporters in Washington, Clinton said: "I think there will be some cost associated with the security rearrangements. And then, obviously, over the long run, as I have made clear, we need to make a contribution... to the long-term economic development of a regional Middle East economy."
Back in the Middle East, at an undisclosed location in Israel, Palestinians and Israelis signed on Tuesday the maps for the long-overdue Israeli withdrawal from a further five per cent of West Bank territory, opening the way for a redeployment within 48 hours.
The withdrawal, originally due on 15 November, was held up because the two sides disagreed over whether Israel alone could determine what areas to hand over.
The maps were signed by Maj.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon, chief of Israel's central military region, and Maj.-Gen. Haj Ismail Jabr, commander of the Palestinian police in the West Bank, the Israeli army said in a statement.
Israel will transfer two per cent of jointly controlled land to areas under total Palestinian control and another three per cent of land under total Israeli control will be transferred to areas under joint control.
The negotiators signed the maps at an undisclosed location, apparently to avoid Jewish settler demonstrators. A troupe of settler protesters wandered between major Tel Aviv hotels on Tuesday night, pursuing rumours that the negotiators were meeting at a Tel Aviv location.
Under the compromise reached on Tuesday the withdrawal will be carried out as originally planned by Israel, while Israel will be open to Palestinian requests in sketching the map for the next Israeli withdrawal, from 6.1 per cent of West Bank territory on 20 January.
A Palestinian official, who requested anonymity, said the Palestinians would have a say in the January pullback, while chief Israeli negotiator Oded Eran said Israel only promised to listen to Palestinian requests.
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Ereikat, asked if Israel had made any changes in the withdrawal maps, told Israel Radio: "No, the five per cent will be the same. All I can say now is that a satisfactory understanding was reached."
Hoda Tawfik and Thomas Gorguissian in Washington; wire dispatches
Also see: 1999 -- the year of Barak and Region
