Assistant Secretary of State Richard Murphy’s unannounced departure for the Middle East over the weekend has once again led to speculation that Secretary of State George Shultz is preparing to visit the region. But State Department deputy spokesman Charles Redman stressed Tuesday that “no decision has been taken.”
He repeated Shultz’s position on visiting the Mideast where the Secretary of State has not been since the Israel-Lebanon agreement he brokered in 1983 was abandoned by Lebanon. “The Secretary has consistently expressed his willingness to travel to the area whenever his presence would assist the parties,” Redman said.
Murphy, who heads the State Department’s Near Eastern and South Asian Bureau, was in Israel Monday and Jordan Tuesday. He was also expected to visit Egypt.
Shultz’s decision on whether to go to the Mideast may depend on whether Israeli Premier Shimon Peres and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak hold their expected summit meeting which Shultz would then attend. The meeting, tentatively scheduled for September 10-11 in Cairo, in turn depends on Egypt and Israel agreeing on the final details for the arbitration of their dispute over Taba.
PERES MIGHT VISIT WASHINGTON
If all this goes as scheduled then it is expected that Peres will come to Washington September 15 for a meeting with President Reagan.
Redman would not confirm this meeting But he noted that since President Reagan was not in Washington when Peres was here in April — he met with Vice President George Bush instead — the two governments have been seeking a date for a meeting. The Reagan Administration believes that the agreement on Taba and the expected return of the Egyptian Ambassador to Israel will be a spur to the entire peace process.
Thus if all the pieces fall into place in the next few days, a Shultz visit to the Mideast will try to use the improved Egyptian-Israeli relations to encourage King Hussein of Jordan and Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza to move toward negotiations with Israel.
The Administration would reportedly like to get the momentum started before Peres turns over the Premiership to Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir in October. But Redman stressed Tuesday that “it’s first and foremost up to the parties involved to decide where they want to go (in moving toward peace). We stand ready to assist.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
