Former Secretory of State Henry Kissinger will leave for the Middle East Saturday on what his office described as a long planned private trip. He is scheduled to visit Egypt and Israel and to meet with President Anwar Sadat and Premier Menachem Begin. He will return Jan. 13.
Kissinger, famous for his “shuttle diplomacy” during the negotiations for the Israeli-Egyptian interim agreements in Sinal in 1975, has been on informal advisor to President-elect Reagan. On Tuesday, Richard Allen, appointed by Reagan to head the National Security Council at the White House, disclosed that Kissinger would have a wide ranging foreign policy role in the new Administration that would include giving advice and travel.
Kissinger’s office insisted that he would not be representing the Reagan transition team formally or informally on his Middle East trip. But it is widely believed here that the trip has the approval of the President elect and of Secretary of State designate Alexander Haig.
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