Disengagement Accord Fades; Kissinger Urges Israel, Syria to Sign an ‘interim’ Agreement

Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger will attempt to persuade Israel and Syria to sign an “interim” agreement in an attempt to salvage disengagement before he returns to the U.S. this weekend, sources here said today. Kissinger flew back to Damascus this afternoon following a meeting of the American and Israeli negotiating teams. U.S. officials were uncertain whether the Secretary would return to Jerusalem tonight but indicated that he would return to Washington on Sunday at the latest.

Hopes that an Israeli-Syrian disengagement accord would be signed by the end of this week, or at least initialed by both sides, faded as serious obstacles developed over non-territorial issues. Information Minister Shimon Peres announced after today’s negotiating meeting that the Knesset has postponed a special session which the government had requested for tomorrow morning to hear a major announcement on disengagement. He said the meeting was put off “simply because negotiations are still going on.”

Foreign Minister Abba Eban, who held a surprise midnight meeting with Kissinger after he returned from Damascus last night, said today, “We still hope, but I cannot promise, that the agreement will be completed in the next few days.” Damascus radio, announcing that Kissinger would return to Syria today, said the Secretary still had difficulties to overcome. One source said that when Kissinger returns to the U.S. he is expected to invite Israeli and Syrian representatives to carry on negotiations in order to reach an agreement.

MOOD INCREASINGLY PESSIMISTIC

The mood among officials and observers here today was increasingly pessimistic in sharp contrast to the near euphoria that prevailed Sunday when it was announced that Kissinger had achieved Israeli and Syrian agreement on a disengagement line. U.S. officials had expressed the view earlier that once the line was settled, everything else would “fall into place.”

This apparently was not the case. Sharp differences have emerged in the past two days on such vial matters as the size of the proposed limited forces zones the nature and functions of the UN presence and the methods of surveillance once an accord is reached. Peres confirmed that those were some of the topics discussed by the Israeli and U.S. negotiators today.

Artillery exchanges continued along the Golar Heights today for the 74th consecutive day of fighting on the northern front. One Israeli soldier was reported wounded.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv was evacuated for a half-hour this morning after an anonymous caller warned that a bomb was on the premises. A U.S. official said Israeli police assisted U.S. Marine guards in searching the Embassy and the adjoining American cultural center. No explosives were found.