January 4, 2000
Web posted at: 11:30 a.m. EST (1630 GMT)

SHEPHERDSTOWN, West Virginia (CNN) -- Uncertainty clouds Tuesday's resumption of peace talks between Syrian and Israeli negotiators.

Syria wants to first take up the issue of the Golan Heights and Israeli withdrawal from the strategic plateau it captured from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Israel wants to determine how relations between the two bitter enemies can be normalized -- and how to guarantee Israel's security once the Golan has been returned to Syria -- before moving on to more specific topics.

VIDEO CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel offers a preview of some of the issues involved in the latest rounds of talks between Israel and Syria. (January 3) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD Mideast peace

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met with Barak on Tuesday morning to try to resolve the disagreement. She was to speak with U.S. President Bill Clinton after the meeting to discuss whether he should return to Shepherdstown for a three-way meeting.

At least one Israeli Cabinet member, close to Barak, used the word "crisis" to describe the state of Monday's negotiations.

"It was agreed that first of all we will discuss on the agenda security, and then we will discuss normalization, and then borders and then water," said Chaim Ramon, the minister for the premier's office. "We insist that's what's going to be."

But officials and semi-official Syrian newspapers carried a degree of optimism in Tuesday's editions.

"Regardless of difficulties that are expected in the talks, the many obstacles that still block the political process and the big difference in both parties' views ... there is still hope that the difficulties can be overcome," wrote Al-Thawra.

Other media sources urged Barak to go beyond his oft-repeated declaration that Israel will have to pay a "painful price" for peace.

	. . . . News: Wye River Memorandum Background: Mideast Timeline The West Bank in Brief Key Players Maps: Middle East Israel Land-for-peace deal Interactive: Message board

"(The Syrian negotiators') coming and outstanding success will be in persuading Barak to move beyond this vague policy to a more precise formulation for trading full peace for a full withdrawal from the Golan to the lines of June 4, 1967, and commit himself to real, genuine peace that can survive," said the English-language daily Syria Times.

All sides are maintaining a press blackout; official news from the talks comes from designated officials at designated press opportunities.

Hundreds of demonstrators took up both sides of the issue in Israel -- Barak supporters and opponents rallied in support of their positions. One group wants peace ahead of anything else, while the other -- mostly Israeli settlers in the Golan Heights -- believe the loss of their homes is too much to give up.

Correspondent Jerrold Kessel contributed to this report.