Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir will meet tomorrow with President Reagan, Secretary of State George Shultz and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. Shamir, who was due to arrive here this afternoon, has also scheduled meetings Tuesday with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Shamir’s visit here comes on the heels of Egyptian Foreign Minister Kamal Hassan Ali’s meetings with Reagan and Shultz last Friday. During his one-hour meeting at the White House, Ali gave Reagan a letter from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak which reportedly urged U.S. efforts to find a permanent homeland for the Palestinians and urged the U.S. to talk to the Palestine Liberation Organization.
After his White House meeting, Ali told reporters that there have been two “new positive” steps taken by the PLO and urged the U.S. and Israel to meet them with “considerable conciliation.”
EGYPT SEES POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS
All listed one of the positive developments as the “acceptance of the PLO of all United Nations resolutions concerning the Middle East and the Palestinian question which was confirmed yesterday (Thursday) in a Security Council, discussion by the PLO representative.”
The Egyptians have welcomed the statement that PLO chief Yasir Arafat made to a Congressional delegation last Sunday in west Beirut as a new initiative by the PLO. However, the Reagan Administration maintains that until it receives a “clear and unequivocal” statement by the PLO accepting Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and Israel’s right to exist, it will neither recognize nor negotiate with the PLO.
Ali said the other positive development was the PLO acceptance of the Arab statement in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia on Thursday in which the PLO agreed to leave west Beirut. Ali stressed that since the current situation in Lebanon started, Egypt has tried to prevent “more escalation and to stop the bloodshed.”
But he stressed that the PLO departure from Beirut “must be an Arab endeavor not taken under military pressure from Israel.” He added that “it should be linked with hope given to the Palestinians and hope for a just and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian question.”
The Egyptian official said his meeting with Reagan left him “more convinced of the United States commitment to play a leading role in the solution of Middle East problems in a way that will insure the stability and rights of all nations and peoples of the area, including the Palestinian people.”
Ali criticized Israel for causing “great casualties and suffering” on civilians by its “continuous daily bombardment of Beirut.” When he was asked if the Lebanese situation would endanger Egyptian-Israeli relations, he replied: “No, not at all.”
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