President Reagan and King Hussein of Jordan emerged from a luncheon meeting at the White House today affirming the bonds of friendship between their countries and their mutual desire for a peaceful, stable Middle East. Hussein also met earlier in the day with Secretary of State George Shultz.
Reagan told reporters that he and the Jordanian ruler had discussed a number of bilateral concerns but that the focus of their talk was “on issues affecting regional peace.”
The President reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 242 which he said continues to be “the starting point for tangible Middle East efforts” for peace, including his own initiative of September 1, 1982. “While the challenges remain formidable, opportunities for a broader peace are still present,” Reagan said. He added that he was convinced that “progress can be made toward the perplexing problem of peace.”
Hussein agreed that “The challenges before us are indeed tremendous but the determination is to strive for a better tomorrow. This is a course to which we are dedicated in Jordan — the cause of a stable area, the cause of eventually establishing a just and lasting peace,” the Jordanian monarch said.
THOROUGH DISCUSSION ON MIDEAST SITUATION
A senior Administration official told reporters later that the Reagan-Hussein meeting had been “good.” He said Hussein had a “very thorough discussion of the situation in Lebanon, both with Secretary of State Shultz and the President, and of Jordan’s security needs in the context of the currently unsettled situation in the region.”
The official added, “There was a very thorough exchange of views on the status of the broader peace process and the fact of involving Jordan’s participation in the process.” He said Reagan had assured Hussein of the U.S. commitment not to abandon Lebanon and to the broader peace process. Hussein, the official said, emphasized that “the Palestinian problem and not the Lebanon problem is the main one to keep our eyes on.” The King also discussed the uncertainties of the future of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Lebanon and the Persian Gulf states. The Syrian military threat to Jordan was also discussed by Reagan and Hussein, the official said.
Hussein will have a second meeting with Shultz tomorrow and will also meet with Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. He will return to the White House for lunch tomorrow with Reagan and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. The official said the presence of both Hussein and Mubarak in Washington this week was a “coincidence.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
