President Reagan and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia met at the White House today and expressed the close friendship and cooperation between their two countries while indicating their different concepts of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
“I continue to believe that a just and lasting settlement based on United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 is within reach,” Reagan said in his welcoming remarks on the south lawn of the White House. “The security of Israel and other nations of the region and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people should be addressed in direct negotiations. It is time to put this tragedy to rest and turn the page to a new and happier chapter.”
But Fahd, claiming that the Palestinian people were “victims of an unjust aggression,” declared that “the Palestinian problem is the single problem that is of paramount concern to the whole Arab nation and affects the relations of its people and countries with the outside world. I hope, Mr. President, that your Administration will support the just cause of the Palestinian people.”
Reagan stressed that “together, our considerable influence and our moral suasion can, at the very least, decrease the threat of war. If the Saudi and American governments focus their energies, progress can be made, especially in the lingering dispute between Israel and her Arab neighbors.”
Reagan did not mention Lebanon but Fahd touched on the issue briefly. “The problem of Lebanon needs to be addressed in such a way that would guarantee the withdrawal of Israel from Lebanese territory and the achievement of Lebanon’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and full independence,” he said.
During a picture-taking session in the Oval Office, Reagan said he was “optimistic” about his talks with Fahd “since the main thing we seek is to establish and make plain our great friendship for each other.” Fahd said, “We have to think about a solution for all the issues and problems that confront us in that region.”
Reagan, in the Oval Office and in his welcoming speech, stressed that Fahd was the first leader from the Middle East to come to Washington since his second inauguration.
Fahd, apologizing for his poor English, spoke in Arabic after a 21-gun salute which marked the start of his official week-long visit to Washington, the first by a ruling monarch of Saudi Arabia since King Faisal came here in 1971. Both Reagan and Fahd noted the “warm personal relationship” between their two countries that has existed ever since President Roosevelt met with Fahd’s father, King Ibn Saud, 40 years ago.
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