Bush’s Visit to Mideast Shows Progress Toward Peace is Being Made, State Department Says

The State Department said Wednesday that Vice President George Bush’s 10-day visit to the Middle East did not reflect any change in the United States Middle East policy, but demonstrated that progress toward peace is being made.

Five common goals by the leaders of Israel, Jordan and Egypt, outlined by Bush in Cairo Tuesday, “are a measure of the steady incremental progress that has been made toward the goal of a negotiated peace, State Department deputy spokesman Charles Redman said. “It expresses our recognition of the commitment of all three governments to the common goal a just and lasting peace in the region,” he said.

Bush, at a press conference in Cairo before returning to Washington, said that the leaders of the three countries which he had visited had agreed on a joint statement listing the goals. He conceded some of the goals were not new.

GOALS ENDORSED BY THREE LEADERS

The first goal endorsed by Israeli Premier Shimon Peres, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Hussein of Jordan is that ” a just and lasting peace is essential, urgent and can only be reached through negotiations.”

Bush said the second goal is that “negotiations should produce peace treaties between the parties based on the recognition of the right of all states and peoples in the region to a life of peace and security.”

The third goal said that “Negotiations must take into account the security needs of Israel, the security needs of all other states in the region and the aspirations of the Palestinian people.” Negotiations to resolve the Palestinian problem within “the context of a relationship between Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza” was the fourth goal outlined by Bush.

The Vice President said the fifth point is that the U.S. believes “in the importance of face-to-face negotiations. We recognize that direct negotiations may involve the framework of an international conference or forum structured in such a way that permits progress and not paralysis, agreement, not dictates.”

BUSH’S CALL TO PALESTINIAN REPRESENTATIVES

Redman took particular note Wednesday of Bush’s “call to Palestinian representatives, persons of peace and goodwill who reject violence and terrorism, to recognize this opportunity to shape their own future.” This is part of the efforts to get Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza to join with Jordan in negotiations with Israel, despite the opposition of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The statement read by Bush Tuesday said negotiations ” should provide for talks between an Israeli delegation and a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, as well as between Syrian and Israeli delegations. Delegations must consist of individuals who seek peace and openly reject violence and terrorism.

Redman added that the U.S. intends to “continue to work closely with the Israeli and Jordanian governments about ways to enhance the quality of life of the Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza.

Bush reportedly said in Cairo that an international conference would include the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council as Hussein has demanded. This would appear to be at odds with the policy of the Reagan Administration which has rejected Soviet participation in the Mideast process.

Israeli Premier Shimon Peres said Tuesday that Israel would drop its opposition to Soviet participation “on the condition that they establish full diplomatic relations with us.”

He was commenting on the announcement that Israel and the Soviet Union will hold consular talks in Helsinki later this month.

Asked for a comment on Peres’ statement, Redman said Wednesday, “We have long said that we would welcome constructive Soviet contributions to peace in the Middle East.

“We and Israel agree that full diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Israel would be a positive step. We hope that the Soviets will take a more constructive attitude toward the problems in the Middle East and the peace process. He added that the U.S. will be “consulting closely with Israel” on the issue.

Redman also pointed to a statement he made Monday, without repeating it, in which he stressed that restoring diplomatic ties with Israel was only one of the conditions the U.S. felt Moscow should meet if it wanted to participate in the Mideast peace process.

He said that in order “to show that it’s willing to play a responsible role,” the Soviet Union should also do things like increasing Jewish emigration from the USSR and end support for regimes like Col. Muammar Qaddafi’s in Libya.

Meanwhile, Bush left Cairo without achieving one of his hopes, a settlement of the dispute between Israel and Egypt over Taba. However, Richard Murphy, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, remained in Cairo to work on the issue which Bush said was “very close” to agreement. “We intend to continue to work closely with Egypt and Israel in order to achieve an expeditious settlement of the Taba issue,” Redman said.