Lebanon has asked the United States, France and Italy to increase the number of troops they have in the multinational force (MNF) in Beirut, the State Department confirmed today.
But Department Deputy spokesman Alan Romberg said he could not say how many additional troops were requested or whether the mandate for the MNF would be expanded from Beirut and its immediate area by the request.
However, he said, that while the U.S. is “considering” the request, its response “would have to fit into the overall arrangements for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon,” the Palestine Liberation Organization forces, and the Israeli and Syrian armies.
According to reports from Beirut, Lebanese President Amin Gemayel has asked that the present MNF force of some 4,000, which includes 1,200 U.S. marines, be expanded immediately to 15,000. When Gemayel met with President Reagan last month he spoke of some 30,000 men whose duties would be expanded to the rest of the country, presumably once the foreign forces leave.
One of the issues that will have to be worked is security arrangements for southern Lebanon which is a condition for any Israeli withdrawal. Israel has demanded that the Lebanese army be responsible for security and has rejected the use of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), whose number was recently beefed up. Presumably an enlarged MNF could be seen as a compromise proposal for providing security for that area.
However, Israel and Lebanon are still deadlocked over arrangements for getting the talks on troop withdrawal started. Morris Draper, one of the two U.S. special envoys working on the situation, was in Beirut today. The other special envoy, Philip Habib, was in Morocco where he was meeting with King Hassan to discuss his other assignment, promoting President Reagan’s Mideast peace initiative. Coincidentally, also in Morocco were Gen. Vernon Walter, a U.S. Ambassador-at-Large, and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who are attending a cultural conference.
Meanwhile, Gemayel was reported as saying today that he would accept help from the Soviet Union to help resolve the impasse of getting foreign forces out of Lebanon. He told Lebanese journalists in Beirut, “We will not refuse any help from the Soviet Union.” He said that just because the U.S. was helping Lebanon restore its sovereignty, this did not rule out relations with other countries.
Romberg said he could not confirm this report, adding that in general, the U.S. did not believe the Soviet Union “could be helpful” in the situation in Lebanon. According to Western diplomats in Beirut, Gemayel’s call for Moscow to enter the Lebanese crisis was the result of his frustration with the lack of progress made by Washington in ridding Lebanon of Israeli, Syrian and Palestinian troops.
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