Word: assads
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Kissinger's approach in Damascus had to be somewhat different. In light of the long history of U.S. support for Israeli aims, President Hafez Assad and his government were initially suspicious of Kissinger's moves and aims. Thus the Secretary had to take pains to reassure Assad that the U.S. really did have Arab interests at heart. During the talks Kissinger discovered that Syrian staff work was poor and that Assad had the habit of haggling over positions he had previously appeared to accept...
...Momentarily convinced that the task was hopeless, he ordered his entourage of 62 aides, security men and newspeople to board the U.S. Air Force Boeing 707 in preparation for a flight from Jerusalem to Cairo. But the Secretary flew back by way of Damascus for one final talk with Assad, who suddenly agreed to Kissinger's "blue line" demarking the cease-fire line behind which Israeli forces would withdraw. Negotiations continued...
Five days later came another impasse. This time the problems concerned the size of the various zones and of the U.N. forces that would patrol them. Israel wanted a force of 3,000 blue-helmeted U.N. peace keepers; Assad wanted no more than 300 and insisted that they be referred to as "observers." But after a five-hour talk with Kissinger, the Syrian President agreed to accept "over 1,000 troops," who would be an "observer force." Kissinger also smoothed negotiations over zones by introducing his own compromise proposals...
...Sentry. The final roadblock was the issue of Palestine. Assad, who had first demanded that the Palestinians be mentioned in the final communique, dropped that requirement as discussions approached a climax. But he adamantly refused to act, he said, as a "sentry" to keep the fedayeen out of Palestine, meaning that he would not monitor commando raids on Israel from Syrian bases. On Sunday night, May 26, Kissinger and his aides met and concluded that the task was "hopeless." Next morning the Secretary had another meeting with Assad, who seemed reluctant to see the negotiations peter out. "You know...
Worried by that same ominous thought, Kissinger flew back to Israel. He had managed to obtain at least an oral promise from Assad that the fedayeen would be policed. He convinced Israeli negotiators that they should eliminate their demand for a clause specifically forbidding paramilitary forces to operate across the buffer zones. Instead, he substituted a secret protocol to the effect that Washington will not oppose Israeli retaliation in the event of future raids. The Israelis accepted this. Armed with their affirmative response, he once more sped back down the Judean hills to Ben Gurion Airport and made...