Word: assads
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...both sides hope will lay the groundwork for a peace agreement. The talks are being brokered by the United States. Beirut bureau chief Lara Marlowe reports: "The principal barrier is clearly the future of the Golan Heights. Israel has refused to give it up entirely, and Syrian President Hafez Assad hasn't changed his position one iota. He wants control over the entire Golan Heights region. That means no Israeli presence whatsoever. Assad is very shrewd, and he knows that his place in history is tied to the Golan. Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres has a reputation as more conciliatory...
...most contentious issue, control of the Golan Heights: "I don't think these negotiations will produce anything of serious consequence. The problem is with the Syrian ruling elite who are concerned about their place in history. This is an obsession among this group, which is headed by Assad. They are afraid of being called traitors for talking with the Israelis. Assad's dilemma is that he does not want to appear to be blocking the peace, but he can't be seen to be bending to the Israelis. Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, on the other hand, needs to establish...
Although Syrian President Hafez Assad has condemned the assassination, his official state-run paper expressed no sorrow at the event. Syria and its client Lebanon are the only neighboring countries that have not signed a peace agreement with Israel, and little progress has been made in Syrian-Israeli peace talks since they began in 1991. "Syria's stand toward the peace process is fixed and it is still sincere to the issue of just and comprehensive peace in the region," the Tishrin daily said. "Syria will persist with this path regardless of this or that incident." In Lebanon, many cheered...
...Washington. "Israel has resumed the policy of maneuvering and scattered the wave of optimism . . . and put all peace efforts exerted by the international community in jeopardy," Syria's official government daily, Tishrin, wrote today.TIME Jerusalem bureau chief Lisa Beyersays the statement contradicts positive signals that Syrian President Hafez Assad has sent through diplomatic channels in the wake of Secretary of State Warren Christopher's shuttle diplomacy last week...
Diplomatic sources are also suggesting that Syrian President Hafez Assad has agreed to begin normalizing relations with Israel-establishing embassies, opening up trade and so on-before the Israeli retreat from the Golan is complete; if true, this would be a substantial concession. The list of major differences is still long. Israel, for instance, wants to continue to maintain early-warning stations on the Golan, and Syria flatly refuses. But at least the two countries are on speaking terms again...