Clinton to Clarify Syria's "Needs and Requirements": Rubin

U.S. President Bill Clinton will try to clarify Syria's needs and requirements during his meeting with President Hafez al-Assad of Syria in Geneva on Sunday, the State Department said on Friday.

Spokesman James Rubin said that since Syrian-Israeli peace talks broke down in mid-January, the Clinton administration continued its secret diplomacy in a hope that the Mideast peace process on this track could be resumed. Earlier this week, Clinton announced his plan to meet Assad for that purpose. "We believe that a face-to-face meeting is the next logical step in this process," Rubin said. "We have worked with both sides to try to clarify the needs and the requirements in order to get the two sides' objectives met."

"Obviously, the president will have something to say to President Assad, and We'll have to see what he has to say back," Rubin added, but he did not disclose what Clinton would say, only saying: "We don't have meeting like this if we don't have something to say."

U.S. Mideast envoy Dennis Ross will join Clinton in Geneva, and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will also be there.

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