Deiss offers Swiss help in Middle East peace process

Switzerland's foreign minister, Joseph Deiss, has offered further assistance in the Middle East peace process. He made the offer after discussing Sunday's US-Syrian summit in Geneva with the American secretary of state, Madeleine Albright.

Switzerland’s foreign minister, Joseph Deiss, has offered further assistance in the Middle East peace process. He made the offer after discussing Sunday’s US-Syrian summit in Geneva with the American secretary of state, Madeleine Albright.

Deiss met Albright in Geneva ahead of the summit between President Clinton and the Syrian president, Hafez Al-Assad. Deiss had raised the possibility of Switzerland hosting a meeting between the United States, Israel and Syria during a tour of the Middle East earlier this month.

Albright played down speculation of a major announcement after Sunday’s summit. However, there are indications an Israeli-Syrian peace agreement may be near, and a follow-up meeting may be called in Geneva in May or June.

Albright refused to comment in detail prior to Sunday’s meeting, but did say that the fact Clinton would be present indicated the United States was fully engaged in the Israeli-Syrian talks.

Talks between the two sides stalled in January, after Israel refused a pre-discussion commitment to withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

Also on the agenda for the talks between Deiss and Albright were the situation in the Balkans and in Russia. Both again called on Russia to launch a full-scale investigation of allegations of human rights abuses by its troops in the breakaway republic of Chechnya.


swissinfo with agencies