The big question mark is the position Syria will take in the event of an agreement between Israel and Lebanon. observers surmise that U.S.-Syrian contacts have been quietly under way for some time and that Shultz has reason to believe, or at least hope, that the Syrians will agree to pull their forces out of Lebanon once an accord is reached for the Israelis to do the same.
Shultz expects to be in Damascus this Friday. An official invitation was relayed to him through the U.S. Ambassador there. Meanwhile, U.S. officials accompanying Shultz are reluctant to comment on the hardline statements by President Hafez Assad and Syrian Foreign Minister Abdel Khalim Khaddam in the last two days.
Assad warned publicly yesterday, after he met with Lebanese Foreign Minister Elie Salem, that Syria would oppose “any gains that Israel is trying to achieve” in its negotiations with Lebanon. He urged the Lebanese to stand firm against Israel’s demands and to “impose an Israeli withdrawal without any prejudice to (Lebanon’s) freedom and sovereignty.”
Khaddam declared that “Any Israeli gains in Lebanon will result in Syrian troops remaining in Lebanon until those gains cease to exist.”
Shultz evidently hopes to have an agreement between Jerusalem and Beirut in hand by the time he goes to Damascus. U.S. officials made it clear last night that he is determined to press his mission to a successful conclusion and will return to the Middle East if necessary after attending a NATO meeting in Paris next Sunday and Monday.
