MIDEAST FUTURE IN FLUX

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504850054-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 6, 2012
• Sequence Number: 54
• Publication Date: February 17, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/06: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504850054-4 STAT
F IT
A'TI('LE APPEARED
P
Q!1 pr.,E /9 -; 17 February 1985
Mideast future in Flux
Syria Is Next Step on Path of Diplomacy
By Don Oberdorfer
Washington Poet Staff Writer
The immediate future of new
Arab, diplomacy with Israel hinges
on decisions to be made in Syria,
according to administration officials
monitoring the swiftly changing
Middle East situation. '
Syria's official media have re
NEWS
ANALYSIS
flected strong oppo-
sition to efforts by Jor-
dan's King Hussein
and Palestine Liberation Organiza-
tion leader Yasser Arafat to unite
for direct negotiations with Israel.
.The important-question is how ,ef-
fective and sustained Syria's oppo-
sition will be. As Washington edged
cautiously toward renewed engage
ment in Arab-Israelinegotiations,
the State Department sent two
WASHINGTON
OST
friendly diplomatic signals to Syria
about U.S. policy toward the Golan
Heights and the gaining of freedom
by an American journalist from Syr-
ian-controlled eastern Lebanon.
U.S. policy makers are watching
with unusual interest the trip to
Damascus this weekend by Prince
Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi Ara-
bian ambassador to the United
States, who is expected to. inform
Syrian President Hafez Assad about
the U.S.-Saudi discussions here last
week and to probe Assad's position
on the Jordan-PLO maneuvers.
Bandar was a participant in the two
working sessions last week between
President Reagan and Saudi King
Fahd and in other Saudi discussions
with senior U.S. officials.
U.S. relations with Syria, which
is armed and backed politically by
the Soviet Union, have been poor,
throughout the Reagan administra-
tion. Syria blocked implementation
of the U.S.-sponsored Israeli-Leb-
anese accords of May-17,1983, and
was accused of masterminding mil-
itary and terrorist opposition that
biought about withdrawal of U.S.
combat troops a year ago. -
At the height of U.S. military in-
vblvement late in 1983, Syrian an-
tiaircraft batteries in Lebanon fired
Qn U.S. reconnaissance aircraft and
American warplanes and ships at-
tacked Syrian positions in return.
The two nations at that point
seemed close to expanding wa are.
Soviet support for Syria and the
Soviet position on the Jordan-PLO
"framework for joint action" are
among the expected topics for U.S.
and Soviet diplomats meeting Tues-
day and Wednesday in Vienna to
discuss Middle East issues. The
State Department, mindful,of fears
that Washington and Moscow might
make deals at the expense of re-
gional powers, insists that the talks
will be only "an exchange of views."
A..-.-k- . .
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/06: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504850054-4