‘many Complex’ Problems Cited Before Reagan S Offer to Send U.S. Troops to Beirut Can Be Implemented

The Reagan Administration stressed today that “many complex” problems had to be solved in the negotiations in Lebanon before President Reagan’s offer to send a contingent of United States troops into west Beirut can be carried out. (Related Story, P.2.)

But State Department spokesman Dean Fischer stressed there was no time limit on Reagan’s agreement in principle to send up to 1,000 troops to help the Palestine Liberation Organization evacuate west Beirut. However, he said the U.S. wanted the negotiations to reach a successful conclusion “as soon as possible.”

Fischer, at the same time, refused to comment on any aspect of the negotiations being conducted by Philip Habib, the President’s special envoy in Beirut, or on PLO chief Yasir Arafat’s rejection yesterday of the Reagan offer. “We are at a very delicate and sensitive stage with the parties involved and there cannot be any comments on the negotiations or on public statements by any of those involved,” Fischer explained.

This is essentially what Reagan said yesterday when he revealed in a Los Angeles speech that Habib had informed him that a U.S. contribution to a multi-national peacekeeping force might be essential to securing a peaceful resolution for the beleaguered section of the Lebanese capital. However, the President said the offer was subject to a formal request from the Lebanese government, something which the State Department said today has not yet been made.

MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

However, a State Department source said that the negotiations being conducted by Habib now revolve around the possibility of the U.S. force, probably a contingent of marines from the Sixth Fleet. But the source urged reporters not to give “undue weight” to Arafat’s public rejection of the U.S. troops or to consider it a stumbling block.

The source said the negotiations going on were “much more complex” with many unanswered questions such as how the evacuation would be carried out, where the PLO would go, and what the Israelis would do. The source stressed that all the negotiations that have been going on in Beirut have only involved west Beirut which Israel has surrounded.

The source denied that Arafat is demanding U.S. recognition of the PLO before he agrees to accept the help of American troops in evacuating “He knows our position,” the source said. Habib is not having any direct negotiations with the PLO, only through a third party. The State Department denied that if the U.S. conducts the evacuation, it would be de facto recognition of the PLO.

In another development, Fischer announced that M. Peter McPherson, Administrator for the Agency for international Development (AID) and Reagan’s personal representative for disaster aid to Lebanon, and Arthur Dewey, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau for Refugee Programs, left last night for the Middle East and will go to Lebanon where they will assess the needs there and report back to the President. Fischer said they will meet with Lebanese government officials, representatives of the United Nations and of other international organizations, providing relief for the war-torn country.