Richard Murphy, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, is leaving on another trip to the Middle East, the State Department announced.
But unlike his recent visits to the region, Murphy will not be concentrating on the peace process, but on bilateral issues, according to State Department deputy spokesman Charles Redman.
Redman said last Thursday that Murphy will accompany Vice President George Bush to Tunisia and then visit other countries. In keeping with the normal State Department practice Redman refused to reveal Murphy’s itinerary.
The official Reagan Administration policy on the peace process, now that King Hussein of Jordan has abandoned his year-long effort to work with Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat, is that it is now in a period of “reflection.” Murphy repeated this in a briefing Wednesday to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
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