September 30, 1995
Web posted at: 5:55 a.m. EDT (0955 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) --The focus of the Mideast peace efforts is now shifting onto two other countries whose negotiations with Israel have been stalled for months.
President Clinton met with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Hussein in separate meetings Friday; both meetings centered on ways to convince Syria and Lebanon to rejoin the process.
And next week, Secretary of State Warren Christopher is scheduled to meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al- Shara when he comes to Washington on Monday.
But the path to peace in the Mideast remains a rocky one. On Saturday, the official Syrian newspaper Al-Thawra said Clinton must convince Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights region it captured during the 1967 war. That concession, the newspaper said, is needed "if President Clinton is serious, and we think he is, in searching for a comprehensive peace, meaning Syria in particular."
"The way to peace is clear," the paper said. "It is getting an Israeli commitment to full withdrawal to the borderlines...and from all the Lebanese lands."
Israel wants an agreement with Syria about normalizing ties between the two countries before it agrees to withdrawal.
Toward breaking the deadlock, Clinton met with Mubarak and Hussein a day after Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat inked the latest installment in the Israel-PLO agreement. The administration believes that Mubarak, in particular, can help sway Syrian President Hafez al-Assad to rejoin the negotiations.
But after Friday's meeting, Mubarak cautioned against moving to fast. He told CNN that any deal should wait until after next year's elections in both countries.
But the process continues. While Clinton met with the two heads of state, Christopher met with Arafat and Peres, the first meeting of a trilateral commission set up to solve problems related to the agreement signed Thursday. Arafat hailed the group, calling it one of the most important results of the most recent agreement.
But down the road will come more serious issues, and how the sides handle the West Bank will surely bring experience for dealing with those. The most sticky problem yet to come: the fate of Jerusalem, which both Palestinians and Israelis claim as their eternal capital.
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