WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: YASSER ARAFAT, MADELINE ALBRIGHT AND ISRAELI CABINET MINISTER HAIM RAMON WELCOME NEWS ON THE RESUMPTION OF PEACE TALKS

Record ID: 399058

  • Title: WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: YASSER ARAFAT, MADELINE ALBRIGHT AND ISRAELI CABINET MINISTER HAIM RAMON WELCOME NEWS ON THE RESUMPTION OF PEACE TALKS
  • Date: 8th December 1999
  • Summary: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 8) (REUTERS -ACCESS ALL) 1. MV: U.S SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT AND PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT COMING OUT OF MEETING. 0.15 2. SV: SOUNDBITE ARAFAT (Arabic) SAYING: "This is good news for us and for the Palestinian people and the Arab nations. It is important that peace moves on all tracks especially t
  • Embargoed: 23rd December 1999 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK AND JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA654WQG7IVU5IFFBH6KOFTTHDJ
  • Story Text: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, U.S secretary
    of State Madeleine Albright and Israeli cabinet minister Haim
    Ramon have welcomed news on the resumption of peace talks
    between Israel and Syria.

    Palestinian President Yasser Arafat welcomed news
    that Israel and Syria had renewed negotiations after meeting
    U.S.Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Wednesday
    (December8).

    "This is good news for the Palestinian people and the Arab
    nations," Arafat said."It is important that peace moves on
    all tracks, especially the Syrian and the Lebanese tracks and
    I wish these negotiations success," he said.

    Albright tried to calm down any Palestinian fears that
    Israel would ignore peacemaking with the Palestinians and
    concentrate its efforts on negotiations with Syria instead.

    "We are obviously pleased about the announcement about
    Syria but as I just said we fully understand that the
    Palestinian issues are at the core of a comprehensive
    settlement and we have a lot of energy and a lot of desire and
    the President who has taken a great deal of interest in the
    subject for some time will devote as much time as he can to do
    this.One track is not being favoured over another and actions
    will not be taken with one at the expense of the other"
    Albright told the news conference.

    Arafat has long had uneasy relations with Syrian President
    Hafez al-Assad and with the government in Lebanon, where Syria
    is the main power broker and there are tensions between the
    authorities and Palestinian refugees.

    Middle East analysts say suspicions between Arafat and
    Assad have at times been fuelled by concerns that Israel is
    unable to devote itself to pursuing peace in the region on
    more than one track.

    Israeli cabinet minister Haim Ramon said on Wednesday
    (December 8) that Israel hoped a ceasefire would be called in
    south Lebanon when negotiations with Syria, Lebanon's patron,
    resume after a 45-month freeze.

    "We all know, when you are not negotiating, you are
    icreasing the danger for violance, blooshed and war, this will
    be the beginning of negotiation,we hope that during
    these negotiations there will be a cease-fire in Lebanon and
    no militaryaction and violance will take place against Israeli
    soldiers and Israeli villages in the northern borders.It is
    not going to be easy, it is going to be lots of ups and downs,
    and more downs than ups" he said.

    Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak took office in July with
    a promise to withdraw from the 15-km (nine-mile) deep
    "security zone" in south Lebanon within one year.

    Barak had said the withdrawal would need to be coordinated
    with Syria as part of a peace agreement.Syria, the main power
    broker in Lebanon, has 35,000 troops deployed in the country.

    The Iranian-backed Hizbollah has waged a war of attrition
    against Israeli troops and their South Lebanese Army (SLA)
    militia allies in an effort to expel Israel from the
    occupation zone.Israel set up the zone in 1985, saying it
    served to protect northern areas from terrorist attacks.


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