Philip Habib, President Reagan’s special envoy, said today that after retuming from his recent trip to the Middle East he is confident that all parties concerned are committed to maintaing the cease-fire in Lebanon. But at the same time he indicated that no progress has been made in getting the Syrians to remove their missiles from central Lebanon.
“At the moment, the cease-fire was of more immediate interest and the affirmation of the cease-fire in light of recent events” overshadowed the missile question, Habib maintained. He made his remarks after a 30-minute meeting at the White House with Reagan at which he reported on his recent trip to Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Habib said he was given two tasks by Reagan: To “strengthen and reinforce” the cease-fire which he helped establish last July, and to express U.S. support for the independence of Lebanon and for that country to regain sovereignty over all its territory within the recognized international borders.
He said that with a presidential election in Lebanon later this year, he was confident that if the Lebanese people were “not subjected to undue pressure and influence,” they could strengthen their national sovereignty themselves. He added that the U.S. welcomed the recent addition of 1,000 troops for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and believed this would “help stabilize the southern part of the country.”
SAYS SITUATION IN LEBANON IS ‘FRAGILE’
Habib stressed that Israel had given its assurances that it will not “attack” Lebanon unless provoked. Without naming the Palestine Liberation Organization, he expressed the hope that nothing occurs in Lebanon that will be provocative.
“All parties realize more than ever the grave implications of a major breakdown of the cease-fire,” Habib said in a written statement. He said the situation in Lebanon was still “fragile” and while there had been some cease-fire violations, they were of “minor significance compared to the situation that existed last spring.” But he stressed that all parties realized that “military action would serve no useful purpose and would be extremely damaging to the peace process.”
Habib’s recent trip to the Mideast was the fifth since Reagan sent him to Lebanon last May after Syria placed SAM-6 missiles in central Lebanon and Israel threatened to remove them by force. Habib conceded today that the missiles were “still a problem.” The retired diplomat said he now plans to return to his home in California but is at the call of the President if he is needed further in the Mideast.
CLAIMS U.S. POSITION NOT CHANGED
Meanwhile, Habib rejected the notion that the State Department had changed the U.S. position when it had declared that the cease-fire barred terrorist attacks on Israel from Jordan and Syria as well as Lebanon. “That has always been the case,” Habib said, noting that the cease-fire agreement had never been put in writing.
On earlier occasions the State Department said that the cease-fire barred any military action from Lebanon into Israel or Israel into Lebanon. Today spokesman Dean Fischer repeated this and added:
“Therefore any hostile action originating from Lebanon but going through Syria and Jordan into Israel would be a violation of the cease-fire. The same would apply to an Israeli action into Lebanon” through “international waters or foreign territories.”
Israeli Ambassador Moshe Arens said in a television interview last night that Habib has assured Israel that terrorist actions coming from Jordan or Syria were considered cease-fire violations. (See separate story P. 2.)
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