Israeli, Syria leaders arrive in U.S. for talks.
Published:
15 December 1999 y., Wednesday
Israel_s Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister al-Shara arrived in Washington Tuesday ahead of historic talks on a peace treaty that could close the circle on Middle East peace. He meets al-Shara on Wednesday.
The talks will be the highest-level talks ever between Israel and Syria. The two countries have been in a technical state of war since Israel was founded in 1948, and Syria is hoping that it can reclaim the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, as part of a larger agreement.
However, Israeli and U.S. officials cautioned that no immediate breakthrough was likely from two days of meetings that will start with a White House gathering hosted by U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Barak, an ex-army chief who negotiated with the Syrians before talks were broken off in 1996 after a wave of suicide bombings in Israel by Islamic militants, said on his departure he felt a historic responsibility to end 50 years of hostility.
In Damascus, the government English-language Syria Times said a peace deal would achieve "security, prosperity and dignity" for everyone in the Middle East, including Israelis.
The fate of the talks will hinge on the Golan Heights, where some 17,000 Israelis have settled. Israel annexed the region in 1981.
Šaltinis:
Internet
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Twenty five years after the Chernobyl explosion, radiation contamination continues to haunt the survivors as it spreads to the next generation.
more »
A British man builds a model of the retired U.S. aircraft carrier the USS Intrepid in New York, made entirely out of Lego pieces.
more »
A researcher at MIT has used his technical skills to give chocolate bunnies and eggs a run for their money. David Carr built a new type of 3D printer that uses chocolate to give a new face to Easter treats.
more »
Storm chasers captured two tornadoes on tape as they touched down in the midwestern United States- continuing a recent onslaught of twisters that have killed dozens and destroyed swathes of land and property.
more »
A small factory in Brazil's northeast is bringing smiles to the faces of environmentalists by turning used toothpaste tubes into furniture and roof tiles.
more »
The Lindel family are attempting to live a low carbon life as part of an experiment to cut their carbon emissions from the annual average of seven tonnes per person to only one tonne.
more »
Three days of severe storms and tornadoes in the southern United States have killed at least 39 people.
more »
Disagreements over the stalemated NATO military mission in Libya persist on the first day of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Berlin.
more »
Tourists go head-to-head with locals in water fights as celebrates its New Year.
more »
Six thousand Lego lovers and a crane create the world's largest Lego tower in Sao Paulo.
more »