Secretary of State George Shultz will receive a “check list” of all points on which Israel and Lebanon have failed to agree so far when he arrives here tomorrow to attempt to break the negotiating impasse.
The list was prepared yesterday at a meeting of the Israeli, Lebanese and American negotiating teams at Khalde, Lebanon to serve as a guideline for Shultz and for the Israeli and Lebanese leaders he will be meeting with over the next few days. The negotiating teams decided to hold no further sessions this week because of Shultz’s visit.
The Secretary of State said in Cairo yesterday that he was prepared to remain in the region as long as neccessary and to engage in shuttle diplomacy between Israel and Lebanon in an effort to achieve an agreement on security and the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon. According to Shultz, his mission is “a very doable thing” because a withdrawal agreement is “in both Israeli and Lebanese interests,”
HECTIC SCHEDULE FOR SHULTZ
Shultz is due at Ben Gurion Airport tomorrow morning. He will go to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem for a private meeting with Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, to be followed by a working session at which both men will be accompanied by their aides.
After a brief courtesy call on President Yitzhak Navon, Shultz will have his first meeting with Premier Menachem Begin since becoming Secretary of State. He will be the guest of honor at a dinner hosted by Shamir and his wife tomorrow night. Shultz will also visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. He is scheduled to fly to Beirut Thursday morning but beyond that his plans have not been disclosed and are said to be flexible. Observers here expect him to return to Jerusalem, possibly Thursday night, for further talks. He is expected to visit Jordan and Saudi Arabia over the weekend and, possibly Damascus.
ISRAEL WANTS MISSION TO SUCCEED
Foreign Ministry officials stressed at a press briefing today that Israel intends “to cooperate with all our might” to help Shultz succeed in his mission. The Israelis apparently hope the Amercan diplomat will exert pressure on the Lebanese government to be more flexible and hint that Israel too would be capable of greater flexibility. Shamir remarked pointedly that the U.S. has “a very deep involvement and very great influence ” in Lebanon.
One outstanding issue blocking an agreement is the role of Israel’s ally, Maj. Saad Haddad. Israel has insisted that Haddad be assigned command of a brigade consisting of his 2,000-man Christian militia and Lebanese army regulars to maintain security in south Lebanon after Israeli forces have withdrawn.
The Beirut government, which considers Haddad a deserter, has balked at this. There are indications, however, that Israel is prepared to “give” somewhat on the question of Haddad’s role and rank within the Lebanese military.
Other outstanding issues with which Shultz will have to grapple concern the future role of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL); the matter of joint Israeli-Lebanese patrols in south Lebanon to ensure that terrorists do not return to the region; the establishment of Israeli liaison offices in Lebanon and Lebanese counterparts in Israel; and such aspects of normalized relations as open borders and direct communications between the two countries.
WIN OR FAIL, TALKS WILL CONTINUE
If agreements in principle can be achieved on these matters, the tripartite negotiating teams are expected to resume their meetings next week to work out the precise details of an accord and prepare it for signing. But if Shultz fails to achieve a breakthrough, Israeli sources said today that the negotiations will have to continue as before, chipping away at the various obstacles.
In that eventuality, pressure is expected to increase inside Israel for a unilateral pullback of Israeli forces to a 28-mile security zone in south Lebanon. Such proposals were discussed by the Cabinet last Sunday but no decisions were taken in view of Shultz’s impending visit.
Apart from the terms of an accord with Lebanon, Israeli officials are expected to review the problem of Syria’s intentions with the Secretary of State. There is cancern in Israeli government circles that the Syrians, with the support of their Soviet patrons, might try to sabotage any agreement reached between Israel and Lebanon.
The Syrians could do this by refusing to withdraw their own forces from Lebanon. The rising tension between the Israeli and Syrian armies along the Bekaa valley front in eastern Lebanon during the past week is seen in some quarters as an indication that Damascus does not intend to cooperate.
During his stay in Cairo, Shultz had meetings with President Hosni Mubarak and Egyption Foreign Minister Kamal Hassan Ali. He also met with seven American Ambassadors to Middle East countries. Reports from Cairo today spoke of new American ideas emanating from that meeting, including an increased American role and an American “guarantee” of the security of Israel’s northern border.
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