ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 26 - Guerrilla Attacks Could Harm Peace Talks.

Israel's deputy defence minister, Efraim Sneh's, warns stepped-up guerrilla attacks against Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon could endanger the Israeli-Syrian peace talks. (Sneh's comments come a day after an Israeli soldier was killed in a clash with Iranian backed Hizbollah guerrillas - the 1st Israeli fatality in Lebanon in 5 months, and the 1st since Israel and Syria resumed peace talks.) Also on Jan. 26, Lebanese security officials say mortar shells exploded near 2 schools in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Roumman, on the edge of an Israeli-occupied border zone, causing some 10 students to be treated in hospital for shock. Lebanon Army militia fired the shells after guerrillas attacked its position. A Hizbollah statement also says a 22 year-old Hizbollah guerrilla died during a clash with Israeli troops. Israel asserts that Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon, can control the Hizbollah guerrillas, and has made clear it expects them to do so while the 2 countries are involved in negotiations. Saneh tells army radio: "If they [the Syrians] are serious about peace talks, it is understandable that we would expect them to stop such activities". Former army chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, who is a member of the negotiating team with Syria, also cautions that talks could break down over such attacks. Lipkin-Shahak says: "If I thought Syria was sending Hizbollah, I would not think it was right to continue talks ... Israel must demand the Syrians prevent Hizbollah activities". (Peace talks between the sides, restarted in December after a break of nearly 4 years, were suspended indefinitely when the countries could not agree on whether to discuss demilitarisation or borders first.) Barak, in Sweden for a conference on the Holocaust, says he hoped the talks would resume within 4 to 6 weeks. For the 2nd day in a row, he also praises Syrian Pres. Assad as a strong and capable leader - an apparent attempt to woo Syria back to the bargaining table. Meanwhile, Syria's state radio, on Jan. 26, criticises Israel for not sending its experts to Washington for low-level talks that the US had hoped would revitalise their stalled peace negotiations. The Damascus radio says the Israeli action was merely "negotiating tactics" aimed at extracting more money from the US. On Jan. 25, Barak cancelled the visit of the 2 Israeli experts when the Syrian counterparts did not show up in Washington on Jan. 24. The experts were not supposed to meet each other but only hold separate consultations with US officials. (Syria is demanding a pledge from the Barak government to cede the entire Golan Heights as the precondition for the resumption of the talks. Barak has indicated he would be prepared to give up most of the strategic heights, but only once Israel receives security assurances from Syria.)