The Reagan Administration called today for an immediate restoration of the cease-fire in west Beirut. “Bloodshed must stop,” State Department spokesman Dean Fischer said.
Fischer prefaced his call for a restoration of the cease-fire by saying: “It is a source of the greatest possible regret to us that many innocent people have been killed and wounded as the result of the breakdown of the cease-fire.” He said the U.S. did not know which side caused the breakdown.
But he noted that President Reagan’s special envoy Philip Habib is “heavily engaged” in trying to restore the cease-fire not only to save lives and property, but also in order to make headway in the political negotiations.
Nicholas Veliotes, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East this morning that Habib had some success on his recent shuttle to Israel and Arab countries and might resume the shuttle next week. Fischer said the U.S. continued to hope for “early progress in the effort to remove the Palestine Liberation Organization fighters from west Beirut” but stressed there is no deadline for this to be accomplished.
Fischer also emphasized that it is “not true that the U.S. has acquiesced in the bombardments of west Beirut.” Sen. Paul Tsongas (D. Mass.), after meeting Israeli Premier Menachem Jerusalem yesterday, said Begin had given the impression that the U.S. had not been opposed to Israel’s bombardment of terrorist targets in west Beirut but that the U.S. has changed its position.
On a related issue, Fischer said that the U.S. will not take any position on a proposed French-Egyptian draft resolution on Lebanon since it might change before it is brought up to the United Nations Security Council for a vote. He said that although the two countries asked for a meeting of the Security Council tomorrow, there is no way of telling now what form the resolution may take or whether the resolution will even come up for a vote at all.
The draft, which has been circulating privately among Council members since July 2, reportedly contains a reaffimation of Resolution 242, mutual recognition of Israel and Palestinians, and a statement expressing support for the rights of the Palestinian people.
Fischer reiterated his statement of last week that the U.S. opposes any change in Resolution 242 since it is the “cornerstone” of U.S. policy in the Middle East. Fischer also said the U.S. opposes amending 242. The Palestine Liberation Organization claims it cannot accept that resolution because it does not mention the rights of the Palestinians.
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