WASHINGTON, JANUARY 5: Israeli and Syrian leaders have held their first face-to-face talks at Shepherdstown to pave the way for lasting peace between the two sides after the US intervened to smooth out procedural wranglings over the agenda that had threatened to derail the talks.The peace process is back on track, US officials here said after Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Syrian foreign minister Faruq al-Shara met for over an hour in presence of US President Bill Clinton and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the Clarion Hotel last night.Barak had a separate meeting with Clinton before al-Shara joined them. The formal session was followed by an informal gathering where the leaders and their delegations.Clinton later told reporters in Washington that the talks went off well but cautioned that "these are difficult issues. and we will just have to hope that we work it out."At a press briefing here about the talks, White House spokesman James Rubin said that both leaders affirmed their commitment to the peace process during the talks. The two leaders, however, did not shake hands.Rubin said the session was more of a general discussion rather than negotiations over hard issues. The leaders "had a very constructive and productive discussion that put the process back on track. We are quite pleased with how today unfolded in the light of the hurdles we had to overcome."Rubin said the talks would continue for rest of the week. "We have been able to constitute all the relevant committees and we believe that all the issues will be discussed in the next couple of days."The face-to-face meetings were the first between the two delegations. The trilateral meeting had been postponed at the last minute on Monday after procedural wranglings between the two sides over the agenda for the talks.The row, which threatened to ground the talks even before it got off, was resolved at initiative of the US. The US is the key facilitator at the talks and Clinton has staked his personal honour over the talks.Officials, however, refused to say how the issue was resolved. While the Syrian side had insisted at separate meetings with Clinton and Albright that Israel withdraw from Golan Heights first before talks started, Tel Aviv stubbornly stuck to its stand that other issues be taken up first.Now all key issues - peace, normalisation of ties, Israeli withdrawal from Golan Heights in return for water rights and security guarantees - will be taken by two expert groups simultaneously, officials said.Rubin, however, cautioned against expecting any core agreement at the talks. "It is not reasonable and we don't expect to have a core agreement in this round." Talks between the two sides have resumed after a four-year hiatus. Both nations have fought three wars.
