CHRISTOPHER SAYS PROGRESS ON CEASE-FIRE SLOW BUT SURE.Byline: Steven Erlanger Steven J. Erlanger is an American journalist who has been the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times since July 2004. Erlanger joined the Times in September 1987. The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times After meeting with Syrian President Hafez Assad in Damascus and with Lebanese leaders in southern Lebanon
``Although difficult problems remain, we are drawing closer together, and some of the gaps are being narrowed,'' Christopher said at a news conference in Shtoura, Lebanon, where he traveled in a heavily guarded convoy convoy Vessels sailing under the protection of an armed escort. Since the 17th century, neutral powers have claimed the right of convoy in wartime, providing warships to escort their merchantmen and keep them secure from search or seizure. . It was the fifth day of a shuttle shuttle: see loom. shuttle In the weaving of cloth, a spindle-shaped device used to carry the crosswise threads (weft) through the lengthwise threads (warp). Not all modern looms use a shuttle; shuttleless looms draw the weft from a nonmoving supply. mission to bring quiet to northern Israel and southern Lebanon after two weeks of fighting. Christopher said U.S. officials would review Lebanese and Syrian comments with Israeli officials. He is to meet Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres this morning, then meet Assad in Damascus at noon for a fourth run-through of a U.S. proposal. U.S. officials cautioned that President Clinton, who met Wednesday with Lebanese President Elias Hrawi in Washington, may have been too enthusiastic when he said: ``I hope we're quite close. I just got some encouraging news that I can't announce now.'' But they agreed with Clinton that ``we'll eventually get this worked out.'' The major gaps involve the rules of military conduct in the ``security zone'' in southern Lebanon that Israel occupied 18 years ago. A set of oral understandings in 1993, which have broken down, was intended to stop Hezbollah, or the Party of God, from launching rocket attacks on northern Israel. In return, Israelis were to stop shelling and bombing Lebanese civilians. ``There would have to be an understanding to limit actions by Hezbollah in the security zone, especially during peace negotiations later,'' an Israeli official said. The U.S. proposal includes a rapid resumption RESUMPTION. To reassume; to promise again; as, the resumption of payment of specie by the banks is general. It also signifies to take things back; as the government has resumed the possession of all the lands which have not been paid for according to the requisitions of the law, and the of peace talks between Israel and both Syria and Lebanon, because a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon - which Hezbollah and the Lebanese want - would be part of a final treaty. Hezbollah officials have said they are ready to end their rocket attacks as soon as Israel halts its strikes on southern Lebanon. But the organization's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah (Arabic: حسن نصرالله) (b. August 30 1960, Bourj Hammoud,[1] Beirut, Lebanon)[2] , said in a television interview broadcast Tuesday night that the organization could not accept a cease-fire agreement that calls for an end to its raids on Israeli soldiers occupying southern Lebanon. The Syrians and Lebanese also want no restrictions on Hezbollah actions against Israeli soldiers in Lebanon. The Syrians are also said to be reluctant to sign any written set of understandings, leading some Americans to suggest a final agreement would simply be issued by Christopher, with simultaneous announcements of support from Syria, Lebanon and Israel. A senior U.S. official said a solution required political will more than technical negotiation, especially on the part of Assad. ``This affair will let us know if he really wants a peace treaty with Israel,'' the official said. ``But I know he wants a relationship with the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , and he's going to have to make some choices.'' U.S. officials said Christopher, who was snubbed by the Syrian president Tuesday, expressed his annoyance Wednesday to both Assad and to Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa in a 20-minute meeting. Christopher also brought Israeli comments on the U.S. proposal to Assad, where they spent an additional four hours going over it line by line. The Americans then got into a heavily guarded motorcade to drive to Lebanon, stopping at the Park Hotel in Shtoura, about 50 minutes' drive from Damascus, to meet Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri Nabih Berri (Arabic: نبيه بري; born January 28, 1938 in Bo, Sierra Leone) is a Sierra Leonean-Lebanese politician, is currently the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament of Lebanon. , a leader of Amal, a Syrian-backed Shiite militia militia (məlĭsh`ə), military organization composed of citizens enrolled and trained for service in times of national emergency. Its ranks may be filled either by enlistment or conscription. and a powerful rival to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. The Americans traveled with nearly 400 Lebanese army soldiers and members of a U.S.-employed militia that normally guards the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. CAPTION(S): PHOTO Secretary of State Warren Christopher, left, and Lebanese Parl iament Speaker Nabih Berri held a news conference Wednesday. |
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