Senior United Nations officials have been conducting talks with Syrian authorities in Damascus this week in an effort to prevent the disengagement agreement from coming apart. An Israeli Radio report quoting UN sources here said that Gen. Ensio Siilasvuo, commander of the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was participating in the talks and was joined yesterday by Roberto Guyer, the personal representative of UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim.
Guyer’s appearance in Damascus was a surprise and indicated the extremely serious nature of the talks, sources here said. Siilasvuo went to Damascus last week after a meeting with Defense Minister Shimon Peres and was expected back in Jerusalem today or tomorrow. Israel had complained to the UN of increasingly provocative Syrian violations of the separation of forces and limitation of forces agreements. Israel is particularly concerned over Syria’s construction of a strategic road to the summit of Mt. Hermon which is located in the UN buffer zone.
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