Begin Steps for Withdrawal

The Israeli Army will begin evacuating Syrian territory by the end of this week with the intention of completing the withdrawal as fast as possible, even before the 20 day deadline set by the disengagement accord military sources said today.

Israeli troops have begun destroying Israel’s military installations in the Yom Kippur War enclave. Other units are busy building the new defense line. Bulldozers were seen digging trenches between the town of Kuneitra, to be returned to Syrian civilians administration, and the Israeli kibbutzim a few kilometers west.

The withdrawal will be carried out in four stages. In the first stage the Israeli forces will leave the territory south of the enclave; then the north and then the rest of the territory all the way to the 1967 cease fire line. The final pullback will be from the Mt. Hermon region. The search for the bodies of missing soldiers has already begun in the UN buffer zone from which Israeli tanks have been withdrawn.

A special command was set up over the weekend on the Kuneitra-Damascus road to deal with the technicalities of the disengagement process. Israeli Syrian and UN officers are cooperating in the new unit similar to the one that functioned in Sinai at the time of disengagement there. The command’s headquarters are in three tents — Israeli, Syrian and UN in which talks are being held. “Contrary to the hostile relations prevailing in the region until a few days ago,” said a Swiss UN officer, “the opening of the talks was in a good and cordial atmosphere.” He said officers of the two sides exchanged salutes, shook hands and even offered each other food they had with them. The talks were described as business-like, and both sides did not spare smiles.