January 8, 2000
Web posted at: 6:50 p.m. EST (2350 GMT)

In this story: Sources: Syria will 'stay as long as it takes' White House: Clinton might rejoin talks RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

SHEPHERDSTOWN, West Virginia (CNN) -- Barring any last minute changes, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak plans to leave ongoing peace talks with Syria on Monday and return to Israel, Israeli sources say.

Members of the Israeli delegation left behind would continue talks with their Syrian counterparts, the sources said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had lunch with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa on Saturday at the hotel where talks have been taking place. The two then traveled to nearby Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, a historic tourist village. Later, they visited Albright's farm, which is located nearby.

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It was unclear if peace talks would resume Saturday evening or Sunday at Shepherdstown, which is about 65 miles (104 kilometers) northwest of Washington.

Israeli sources said committee group heads from both sides would meet informally Saturday evening.

But Syrian sources said no meetings -- formal or informal -- were planned for Saturday because of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr feast, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Syrian sources did say, however, that more meetings were planned for Sunday.

It had been widely expected that Barak would depart the talks after seven days and that working groups would remain behind to continue the negotiations.

Clinton hosts a face-to-face meeting with world leaders in Shepherdstown on Friday

Syrian sources told CNN their side will "stay here as long as it takes." However, if Barak does leave, it's likely that al-Sharaa would depart as well.

However, U.S. officials said it had not been determined whether the negotiations would continue at Shepherdstown or move to another location after the leaders of the two delegations left.

U.S. President Bill Clinton, running out of time to produce results from the talks before the expected departure of Barak and al-Sharaa, presented a U.S. working paper to both men at a meeting on Friday.

The document, detailing areas of agreement and disagreement in talks held in the past and during the current round at Shepherdstown, is aimed at guiding negotiators onto a fast track toward agreement.

The working paper drew initial praise on Saturday from the Syrian delegation.

"The Syrian side is studying the document in a positive manner," said one Syrian source, calling it "an advanced step in the negotiating process to reach a formula on points of difference so they can be bridged."

There was no immediate word on the paper from the Israeli delegation, which observed the Jewish Sabbath with prayers in a makeshift synagogue at the West Virginia hotel where the negotiations are being held.

"This working document provides a summary of the issues to be decided and the differences between the parties," White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said Friday.

"It is designed as a procedural tool to focus the substantive discussions and to help bridge the differences that now exist," Lockhart said.

"It ... will block any retraction by any party from any agreements that might be reached," another Syrian source said about the document.

Syria has long charged that Israel reneged on a pledge to withdraw fully from the Golan Heights, captured in the 1967 Mideast War.

Israel says it never made such a promise and that the depth of the pullback will reflect the scope of security arrangements and normal relations.

Lockhart said Clinton might return for talks with the principals over the weekend. It would be Clinton's fifth visit since the negotiations began.

Syrian sources said Clinton's initiative showed the United States was moving beyond the role of a broker and becoming "an active player" in the talks.

The Syrian sources contended the working paper placed the issue of borders, which Syria had sought to focus on first, ahead of all others. But U.S. officials have said the document touched on all areas of agreement and disagreement.

Asked about the document, an Israeli source on Friday would say only that things are moving along as they should.

State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel and Reuters contributed to this report.