Lebanon Radio, monitored here, said today that President Amin Gemayel and Foreign Minister Elie Salem warned Secretary of State George Shultz that Lebanon “cannot accept a unilateral Israeli withdrawal to the south unless it is accompanied by a timetable for a definite withdrawal of all Israeli troops” from Lebanon.
Shultz met with Gemayel and Salem in Beirut this morning before going on to Damascus for a meeting with President Hafez Assad of Syria, apparently to try to clarify Syria’s intentions regarding its own forces still in Lebanon. (See separate story.) The Secretary of State, homeward bound after visiting several Far Eastern countries and Pakistan, diverted unexpectedly to the Middle East. He was in Saudi Arabia yesterday and is due in Israel tomorrow.
According to Lebanon Radio, Gemayel also warned Shultz that should Israel proceed with plans for a partial withdrawal without submitting a timetable for complete withdrawal, “Lebanon will feel free to reconsider its May 17 agreement with Israel.” The radio report hinted that Gemayel might in those circumstances break the agreement.
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