ISRAEL, SYRIA BREAK DEADLOCK

Israel and Syria today agreed to resume long-stalled peace negotiations in Washington late next month, spurred by a U.S.-drawn framework to help resolve their central dispute over the strategic Golan Heights. Under the tentative compromise, the two sides would match one another, move for move, in reducing their military presence in the border region. The resumption of talks marks the first progress in negotiations between Israel and Syria since they opened the peace process in October 1991. While State Department officials would disclose no details, TIME Jerusalem bureau chief Lisa Beyer reports that each side has accepted a specific set of American guidelines to steer the talks between senior Israeli and Syrian military officers. Among them: that Israeli withdrawal from the Golan would be phased (Syria wants a one-year timeframe, Israel wants five years), and that the U.S. would monitor and oversee the process. Israel and the U.S. would also recognize a Syrian role in Lebanon, while Syria would ensure that Lebanon is no longer a staging ground for attacks on Israel.