Word: syrians
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...disputed border crossing between two warring nations, the snowy hillside town of Majdal Shams is pretty quiet. There have been no major battles in the Golan Heights since the 1973 October War, when the Syrian army nearly recaptured the town from Israel, which had occupied the territory in the 1967 war. Instead of hostile fire, all that passes across the border these days are apple harvests and the occasional bride. Every few years, a Druze Arab woman passes through a United Nations checkpoint, leaving the Israeli-occupied Golan for the arms of her future husband in Syria, unlikely to ever...
...more than two years, calls for peace by Syria's President Bashar Assad had been ignored by the Bush Administration because of Syria's support for militants in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories and - the U.S. alleged - Iraq. Hoping that isolation would change Syrian behavior, Washington encouraged Israel to ignore the Syrian charm offensive. But since the Obama Administration took office with the intention of repairing America's frayed relations in the region, the much discussed - but rarely traveled - road to Damascus has suddenly been busy with American emissaries, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, who visited Syria last...
...After 60 years of Syrian-Israeli conflict, the contours of a solution are generally clear: Israel would have to withdraw from the Golan Heights, while Syria would have to maintain a demilitarized zone in the territory. Previous rounds of talks faltered over the exact route of the border and concerns over how Israel could protect itself from a surprise Syrian attack - calculations now rendered moot by modern satellite surveillance technology and the capabilities of Israel's arsenal...
...Syria, however, has begun to emerge from its recent international isolation. On Friday, a senior State Department official met the Syrian ambassador to Washington, the first official contact in months. Washington also is considering appointing a new ambassador to Damascus. The previous ambassador was withdrawn in the wake of the Hariri assassination...
...rapprochement with the West and the possibility of resumed peace talks with Israel could be derailed if the tribunal issues indictments for senior Syrian figures. Given the stakes, it is no surprise that suspicions have arisen of a deal being concocted in which the Syrian leadership is spared prosecution in exchange for progress on peace with Israel, loosening its close ties to Iran and an end to meddling in Lebanon...