Meeting With Abd al-Halim Khaddam of Syria - White House Statement Issued Following the President's Meeting With the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister

President Carter and President Asad of the Syrian Arab Republic have agreed to meet in Geneva on May 9. The two Presidents are looking forward to their first meeting together. They will discuss ways in which the cause of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East can be advanced. The meeting of the two leaders will also offer an opportunity to strengthen further the growing friendship between the U.S. and the Arab Republic of Syria.

The President met today with Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abd al-Halim Khaddam in the Oval Office for 45 minutes. The President was accompanied by Secretary of State Vance, Assistant for National Security Affairs Zbigniew Brzezinski, Assistant Secretary of State Alfred Atherton, Ambassador to Syria Richard Murphy, and NSC staff member William Quandt on the American side; and Foreign Minister Khaddam by Ambassador to the United States Sabah Kabbani, and Private Secretary Abdul Salam Aqil, on the Syrian side. The two interpreters were Samih Abu Fares on the Syrian side and Isa Sabbagh on the American side.

The President expressed his pleasure at this opportunity to meet the Minister and to discuss with him the meeting he will have on May 9 with President Asad. The President reviewed with the Minister, who is a leading participant in the continuing efforts to find a peace settlement in the Middle East, the status of those peace efforts, and discussed with him the principal issues to be resolved. The President underlined the importance he attributes to Syrian participation in these efforts, and said he was very much looking forward to going over them in depth with President Asad. He reaffirmed his determination to make a major effort to help the parties reach a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The President and Minister discussed the continued improvement of Syrian-American relations. The President maintained that these good relations serve not only the interests of both peoples, but also the cause of Middle East peace toward which both strive. The President asked the Minister to convey to President Asad his sincere conviction that their coming meeting will contribute to moving forward in these peace efforts.