April 30, 1994

U.S. Secy. of State Christopher arives in Damascus, meets for 4 hours with Pres. al-Asad, FM al-Shara'. Topics include Israeli proposals for Golan withdrawal, U.S. concerns over drug trafficking, counterfeiting, terrorism, and human rights. U.S. also seeks clarifications on recent Syrian-Russian arms agreement. Christopher reportedly tells Syrians of U.S. pleasure with Syrian moves to curb terrorism, including closing 2 FRC ("Abu Nidal") camps in Lebanon. (NYT, WP, WT 5/1)