Israel-Syria Peace Talks: President Clinton to Help Spur on Sputtering Negotiations
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Clinton is expected to return today to the sputtering peace talks between Israel and Syria. Mr. Clinton is hoping to nudge along the talks, which sputtered for the first two days and then lurched into slow gear, yesterday. CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel is in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, with the latest.</s>ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senior Israel and Syrian officials spent the day inside this remote West Virginia hotel, getting down to the business of negotiating with American mediators present.</s>JAMES RUBIN, U.S. STATE DEPT. SPOKESMEN: So we're chugging along in a professional manner, but these are professional issues, and we've just gotten started in that kind of serious way.</s>KOPPEL: As part of a work plan formalized during President Clinton's three-way meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa on Tuesday, negotiators agreed to break into four distinct committees. The first two -- the committee on normal peaceful relations, to address establishing formal diplomatic relations between Damascus and Jerusalem, and security arrangements, to deal with military defense concerns on both sides -- began negotiating Wednesday. The other committees -- water, to address questions of access to scarce water resources, and finally, borders, that is how much of the strategic Golan Heights Syria will get back from Israel -- are expected to convene sometime during this round of negotiations.</s>KOPPEL: Syria's support for Hezbollah guerrillas in Southern Lebanon, although not on the formal agenda for this round, is also being discusses. U.S. and Israeli negotiators worry Hezbollah attacks could complicate discussions finally under way. Still, until core issues are resolved, some analysts wonder if any real progress will be made.</s>CHEMI SHALEV, ISRAELI ANALYST: There is a problem that the two sides are at cross purposes, that the Israelis want to know what they're going to get before they commit themselves to what they will give in return on the Golan; and with the Syrians, it's the other way around.</s>KOPPEL: U.S. officials are hoping that President Clinton's presence here in West Virginia later today will either inspire or instigate new ideas to help end 50 years of hostility between Israel and Syria, Daryn.</s>KAGAN: Andrea, it's a big job. What are they planning to tackle today?</s>KOPPEL: Well, it's unclear at this point. Clearly, U.S. officials feel that talks, which actually got down to substance on Wednesday, weren't moving quickly enough. The two committees which did meet, yesterday., on normal peaceful relations and security were expected to resume meeting again, today, on Thursday, but it's not -- we're not clear if they've begun. We've heard also some other reports that perhaps the committee on water would meet today. Otherwise, they're probably meeting informally behind closed doors, Daryn.</s>KAGAN: Andrea Koppel reporting to us from Shepherdstown, West Virginia.