Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said today, following a of State Henry Kissinger said today, following a 45 minute private meeting with the expected Republican Presidential nominee Ronald Reagan, that “there is no disagreement between us on the Middle East.”
“My views are compatible with the Republican platform,” Kissinger told a press conference attended by some 300 reporters from around the world. He sharply criticized “the declaration of Venice” by the European Economic Community (EEC) heads of state last month which, among other things, maintained that the Palestine Liberation Organization must be associated with the Middle East peace process.
Kissinger reiterated the position he had taken as Secretary of State during the Nixon and Ford Administrations, in opposition to PLO participation in negotiations for a Mideast settlement and to a Palestinian state adjoining Israel. In response to questions about the Republican Party’s foreign policy platform plank, Kissinger said, “I agree that the aim of the Soviet Union is to establish a predominant” political position in the Persian Gulf area, and added, “I am opposed to a PLO state and to the PLO participating” in the autonomy talks.
The foreign policy plank, adopted by the GOP convention yesterday without dissent, rejected any call for PLO involvement in “an ultimate peace settlement,” warned the Arab states that an oil embargo would be regarded as “a hostile act,” and opposed Saudi Arabia’s request for equipment to improve the range and offensive capabilities of its American F-15 jets.
With respect to the EEC, Kissinger said “I expressed my own views in Europe” about the Venice declaration. It “did not contribute to a solution of the issues between Israel and the Arab states.”
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