Reagan Says U.S. Will Continue to Pursue Goals of Peace in the Mideast Despite Terrorist Bombing of

President Reagan declared today that despite the “vicious terrorist bombing” of the United States Embassy in Beirut, the U.S. will continue to pursue “our goals of peace in the region.”

The President make his remarks at the start of an awards ceremony for Peace Corps volunteers in the White House garden, some five-and-a-half hours after the bombing took place at 6:05 A.M. (EST). Although Reagan said “the cowardly act” cost a number of American lives, neither he nor the State Department were able to give casualty figures by mid-afternoon. Unofficial reports from Beirut listed the number of dead as between 28 and 32, including six U.S. marines and two soldiers, and 100 injured.

State Department deputy spokesman Alan Romberg said that U.S. Ambassador Robert Dillon was able to telephone Washington within an hour of the explosion after digging out of the rubble in his office. The Embassy usually has 30 to 35 people working there at one time, including the marines, Romberg said.

Special envoys Philip Habib and Morris Draper were in another part of Beirut at the time of the explosion. Draper’s wife, Roberta, was reportedly slightly injured.

THREE GROUPS CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY

Although first reports said the bombing was caused by a booby-trapped car, Romberg said that it was not certain what kind of bomb had been used or where it had been placed. He said the United States did not know at this time who was responsible, noting that three groups have already claimed that they did it.

Reagan, in his remarks, said Lebanese President Amin Gemayel had telephoned him to express his “profound regret and sorrow” at the bombing and to offer the condolences of the Lebanese people to the families of Americans who died as a result of the bombing. Reagan said Gemayel added his “firm determination that we persevere in the search for peace in that region,” a determination Reagan said he seconded.

STATEMENT BY REAGAN

“This criminal attack on a diplomatic establishment will not deter us from our goals of peace in the region,” Reagan said. “We will do what we know to be right. Ambassadors Habib and Draper, who are presently in Beirut, will continue to press the negotiations for earliest possible total withdrawal of all external forces.

“We also remain committed to the recovery by the Lebanese government of full sovereignty throughout all of its territory. The people of Lebanon must be given a chance to resume their efforts to lead a normal life, free of violence without the presence of unauthorized foreign forces on their soil. And to this noble end I rededicate the efforts of the United States.”

SHAMIR SHOCKED BY THE BOMBING

Yitzhak Shamir, Israel’s Foreign Minister, said today on ABC-TV, that he was shocked by the bombing, declaring, “It’s horrible, it’s horrible.” He added that the attack “explains to a certain extent our caution, our worries about security problems in Lebanon.” He spoke via satellite from Tel Aviv.

Asked whether he felt the bombing would affect the outcome of the talks between Israel and Lebanon on withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, a goal about which he said “I think we are close,” Shamir said he did not think the Embassy attack would complicate the talks. On the contrary, he said, “we have to work more closely in more efforts to reach an agreement.”

Meanwhile, Romberg maintained that the U.S. still believes that Syria will withdraw from Lebanon once there is an agreement for the withdrawal of Israeli forces. “The government of Syria has expressed its willingness to withdraw its forces from Lebanon in the context of the agreed complete departure of all foreign forces from the country,” he said. Romberg said he would not interpret a report from Damascus over the weekend that Syria will not pull its army out of Lebanon until the withdrawal of Israeli forces is complete.