Carter to Meet Separately with Begin Sadat in Washington Next Month to Review Progress of Autonomy T

The White House announced today that President Carter will meet separately with President Anwar Sodat of Egypt and Premier Menachem Begin of Israel in Washington next month but the “exact dates are undecided.” (Related story P. 3.)

Presidential Press Secretary Jody Powell, who made the announcement, said “The purpose is to review the progress and pace of the autonomy negotiations for the West Bank and Gaza. The negotiations are being conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Camp David accords signed by all three leaders on September 17, 1978.”

A short time later, at a second briefing, Powell announced that special Ambassador Sol Linowitz, President Carter’s envoy to the autonomy talks, will leave within a day or two for Egypt and Israel to meet with the leaders of those countries and will then go to Alexandria to attend the plenary session of the autonomy negotiations next week. The last plenary session was held in The Hague on Feb. 28-29.

Powell said “The purpose of his trip will be to pursue the negotiations and, of course, to that purpose has now been added the preparations for the meetings” of Carter with Sodat and Begin in April. Asked whether the President is averse to a summit meeting of all three leaders and why they will be meeting separately, Powell replied:

“The reason for these meetings is that all of the parties to the Camp David accords felt that the time was appropriate, given the importance of the issues under negotiation and the May 26 goal, and for the architects of the Camp David accords to discuss the progress made to date and explore means to move forward. It was the judgement of those involved that this would be best accomplished under the format ! described.”

SAYS MAY 26 IS ‘GOAL,’ NOT ‘DEADLINE’

Pressed repeatedly as to whether progress in the autonomy talks has come to a halt and that the May 26 goal may not be reached, the White House spokesman pointed out that “These are meetings in support of the ongoing negotiations” and that it is “a different situation than what we faced in the summer of 1978” when “there was no framework-for discussions, very little agreement an any issues and no peace” between Egypt and Israel.

Powell suggested to reporters that they should not lean in the direction that the upcoming meetings are a “process” toward a meeting between the three leaders. “These meetings are not to replace the negotiating process but to support the existing process,” he said.

Powell also insisted that the May 26 date is a “goal,” not “a deadline.” But, he said, “every effort will be made to indeed meet that goal and that is the clear hope of those concerned.” Earlier in the week Begin and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel both made similar statements. Begin said that May 26 “is not a so-called deadline or ultimate date.” Shamir also stated that May 26 is merely a desired date.

Powell emphasized several times that the talks have not been deadlocked. Asked if they were stalled, he said, “No, I won’t agree with that characterization.” He said the talks in Washington “are not related” to the United Nations Security Council’s anti-Israel resolution of March 1 which the U.S. supported and which Carter later repudiated. Powell said the meetings have been under discussion “at least a couple of weeks” but the invitations were “formally” extended yesterday by Carter who spoke to Sodat and Begin.

Asked if the visits to Washington by the Israeli and Egyptian leaders might overlap, Powell said “No, that is not the scenario at all.” He said he did not know whether Begin or Sodat would come to Washington first.

JERUSALEM NOT MENTIONED

When it was pointed out that his announcement of the meeting referred to the West Bank and Gaza Strip but did not mention the issue of Jerusalem which had figured prominently in the Security Council’s March 1 resolution, Powell said:” Jerusalem is not part of the autonomy talks except only in a potential way, regarding the status of the residents of East Jerusalem with respect to voting on the self-governing authority.”

At that point, one of Powell’s aides intervened to say that “Jerusalem is not part of the Camp David accords as such.” Powell had mentioned earlier that the issues involved in the autonomy negotiations could be broken down into “two general areas.” One is “how the self-governing authority will be selected or elected” and the other is “the power, authority and responsibilities of the self-governing authority.”

Powell pointed out that “These issues are both extremely difficult and extremely important to both Egypt and Israel. These are issues everybody recognized would have to be dealt with at the highest level.” Later, he added, “It has been understood these questions would have to be resolved by the leaders” and that “the possibility President Carter would be involved should be no great surprise to anybody.”

In another development, it was disclosed today that President and Mrs. Carter will host a reception at the White House this Sunday to observe the first anniversary of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty which was signed in Washington last March 26. Some 700 guests have been invited, including delegations from the Egyptian and Israeli embassies. This is about half the number that attended the treaty signing celebrations a year ago.

Observers noted that both the announcement of the Sodat and Begin visits in April and the reception came on the eve of the crucial New York Presidential primaries to be held March 25. The treaty celebration will take place three days before the actual anniversary date.

Another matter of interest to White House observers is that Carter is expected to announce in the near future the membership of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council which will consider recommendations by the President’s Holocaust Commission of last October for a suitable Holocaust memorial.