Word: assad
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Both sides have the will to resolve this problem," says TIME U.N. correspondent William Dowell. "(Syrian President) Hafez Assad is concerned to negotiate Syria's recovery of the Golan because he doesn't want to leave his son and appointed successor, Bashar, facing this complex problem. For the Israelis, a deal with Syria would put Israel at peace with all of its immediate neighbors." It may be some time, though, before the two sides reward President Clinton with a triumphant photo opportunity. "The talks will be hard because both sides are tough negotiators," says Dowell. "There's unlikely...
...good news is that Barak wants to negotiate by mid-February the outlines of a settlement with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and begin talks with Syrian president Hafez Assad on returning the Golan Heights. Arafat and Assad, both ailing, realize this is probably their best and last chance to reach agreements. But Arafat and Barak are still haggling over a small parcel of Israeli-occupied territory. Albright wants to stay out of petty real estate disputes and keep Barak and Arafat focused on resolving bigger questions. But the men still distrust one another so much that it's hard...
Those questions also seem to be haunting Assad Sr. Although he is anxious not to appear in haste, many diplomats are convinced that Assad is determined not to miss the new opportunity for talks that arose with the election of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in May. In Syria's earlier rounds of negotiations, Assad moved cautiously, only to react bitterly to the deadlock that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the subsequent defeat of Rabin's moderate successor Shimon Peres by hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu. Assad is also more focused on Syria's inevitable political transition...
Another impetus is the ticking of the American political clock. U.S. officials say Assad believes President Clinton can help him get Syria's best deal with Israel. He knows, they add, that otherwise Syria will have to wait for a new U.S. President. Assad's aim is to enhance Syria's long-term stability by achieving a "cold peace" with Israel. His hope is to go down in history both as a peacemaker and as the Arab struggler who remained steadfast long after the Sadats, the Husseins and the Arafats did separate deals behind his back. He can portray...
...Will Assad's negotiators ever get back to the table and make this deal? The negotiations center on a simple-sounding swap: Israel returns the Golan and Syria delivers peace, including security arrangements and normal relations between the two nations. But there's nothing simple about the agreement. Israel insists that any return has to be gradual, a step-by-step process designed to boost each side's confidence. The Syrians claim that Israel, during Rabin's tenure, agreed to hand back the entire Golan Heights. Damascus now demands that negotations begin with that concession in the bag. Barak...