President Reagan blamed “some radical elements of the PLO ” yesterday for causing Jordan to announce that it has abandoned efforts to negotiate with Israel on behalf of the Palestinians because the PLO position was incompatible with its own.
The President said, however, that he remained “very hopeful” that the negotiations will eventually take place. Secretary of State George Shultz said on CBS-TV’s Morning News program today that “the key point to remember is that the President is determined to see this peace process through.”
Reagan spoke briefly to reporters on the White House grounds after returning by helicopter from the Presidential retreat at Camp David last night. He refused to answer substantive questions on the grounds that he was still in the process of contacting Arab leaders over the latest developments.
He conceded, however, that Jordan’s announcement that it has ended its efforts to reach agreement with PLO chief Yasir Arafat was “an impediment in our search for peace … peace for the Middle East, peace for Israel, peace for the Arab nations in that troubled area.” He declared, “That is our goal.”
STATEMENT BY JORDAN’S CABINET
The official communique released by the Jordanian Cabinet yesterday detailed the long negotiations between King Hussein and Arafat during recent months and a tentative agreement in principle that was reached.
It spoke of the latest deliberations of the PLO executive committee which ended with the dispatch of a delegation to Amman “to convey to us new ideas and to propose a new course of action that differed from our (earlier) agreement (with Arafat) and that did not give us priority to saving the land (the occupied territories), thus sending us back to where we were in October, 1982.”
The communique added; “In the light of this, it became evident that we cannot proceed with the course of political action which we had planned together and to which we had agreed in principle and in details in answer to our historic responsibility to take the opportunities made available by Arab and international initiatives and save our land and people.”
As a consequence, according to the communique, and in compliance with the 1974 Arab League summit resolution at Rabat, Morocco, designating the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, “we leave it to the PLO and the Palestinian people to choose the ways and means for the salvation of themselves and their land, and for the realization of their declared aims in the manner they see fit.”
The communique stated further that “We in Jordan, having refused from the beginning to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians, will neither act separately nor in lieu of anybody in the Middle East peace negotiations. Jordan will work as a member of the Arab League, in compliance with its resolutions to support the PLO within our capabilities, and in compliance with the requirements of our national security…”
CHARGE BY REAGAN
Reagan, in his remarks yesterday, charged that the radicals in the PLO “have introduced changes in the proposals that have been made and the policy we have been trying to follow with regard to Middle East peace. Those changes are unacceptable to King Hussein; they’re unacceptable to King Fahd (of Saudi Arabia); they’re unacceptable to me.”
He told reporters “I have been in touch with King Fahd and King Hussein and am going to be in touch with other Arab leaders about this.” He added; “We feel that the changes that were suggested would impede the efforts we’ve been making toward negotiated peace in the Middle East…. And as I say, we are all in agreement.”
When a reporter suggested that the President sounded “hopeful that somehow King Hussein will join the talks on behalf of moderate Palestinians, “Reagan replied, “Oh, very hopeful because as I say, we’re all in agreement about the other proposals that have been made … and I have their assurances that they want to proceed with what we’ve been doing. We’ve made great progress so far, and King Hussein had made great progress.”
Reagan refused to identify the “radical elements” he referred to. Asked if he thought it might be time for the U.S. to consider negotiating directly with the PLO, he replied, “I can’t answer any questions.”
Shultz, in his television appearance this morning, said the PLO basically demanded a return to the concept of a Palestinian state and the presence of the PLO at the negotiations, neither of which are part of the Reagan initiative. “Israel wouldn’t sit down under those circumstances and I don’t blame them,” Shultz said. He said there were no immediate plans for him to visit the Middle East or to invite any Middle East leaders to Washington at this time.
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