The State Department continued to maintain today that Richard Murphy, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, was in the Middle East for “fact finding” and not to mediate an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon.
Department spokesman John Hughes said Murphy was not “carrying messages” or “positions” between the various parties involved. He said Murphy’s “exploratory” mission was “more a sounding out and testing of opinion.”
The Reagan Administration has been maintaining for several weeks that it will not mediate in Lebanon until there is a closing of the differences between the three major countries involved — Israel, Lebanon and Syria. Hughes had no explanation why Murphy, who was in Jordan today, was unable to see President Hafez Assad when he was in Syria over the weekend.
Hughes said the U.S. is not concerned about the postponement of Lebanese-Israeli talks on withdrawal which were to have started today under the auspices of the United Nations. The Lebanese government asked for a postponement until its Cabinet could meet to select the members of its delegation to the talks. “We’d like to see that meeting go forward as soon as possible,” Hughes said. A report from Beirut today said the Lebanese government has set Thursday for the opening of the talks and has asked UN officials to see if Israel is agreeable to the new date.
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