Philip Habib, President Reagan’s special envoy to the Middle East, said he found, on his latest trip to the region, that the cease-fire he helped establish across the Lebanon-Israel border last July has “cooled the situation” in Lebanon.
Habib spoke to reporters last Friday after reporting to President Reagan on his latest mission to the Mideast in which he visited Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The 61-year-old retired diplomat did not say whether he would be returning to the area soon but only declared that he was at the President’s “disposal.”
Habib did not deal with any specifics such as the missiles Syria placed in Lebanon last spring. The envoy was originally sent to the Mideast last May to seek the removal of those missiles whose removal Israel is still demanding. However, Habib told reporters he found that “all the parties” in the Lebanese situation were satisfied with the cease-fire, despite any “minor infractions” that may have occured.
He said there was an agreement by all on the “general desirability that Lebanon not be the center of a political or military upheaval that would create problems in the region.”
Meanwhile, the White House has announced that Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia will make an official visit to Washington Jan. 19-20.
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