It will be up to Richard Murphy, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, to decide whether to meet with a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation during his current visit to the Middle East, the State Department asserted today.
But Department deputy spokesman Charles Redman reiterated that “no decision has yet been made” on the list of names submitted by King Hussein of Jordan to the United States for its approval of the Palestinian members of the delegation. Nor has Murphy scheduled any meetings with Palestinians, Redman stressed, although State Department officials have pointed out that he has normally met with Palestinians on his previous visits to Amman and Jerusalem.
While Murphy, who met today with Hussein and members of his government, apparently has a great deal of leeway on deciding with whom to talk while visiting Jordan, Egypt and Israel, Redman stressed that he cannot meet with members of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
EFFORT TO ALLAY ISRAEL’S CONCERNS
In an effort to allay Israel’s concerns about the possible U.S. meeting with the joint delegation, Redman reiterated yesterday that for the meeting to take place it must “clearly lead” to direct negotiations between Israel and the Jordanians and the Palestinians and that that meeting will not be a “substantive dialogue” with the PLO.
But Redman pointed out that the U.S. believes that this leaves a great number of Palestinians with whom the U.S. can talk, including members of the Palestine National Council who are not members of the PLO. He noted the criteria set by Secretary of State George Shultz at a press conference last May when Shultz said, “We are looking for people of good will who are truly dedicated to non-violent negotiated solutions and truly ready to strive for peace with Israel.”
Two Palestinians on the Hussein list — Hana Seniora, editor of the pro-PLO Arabic East Jerusalem daily, Al Fajar, and Fayez Abu Rahme, a Gaza lawyer — are reportedly expected to be in Amman while Murphy is there. While Seniora said he planned to meet with Murphy, the State Department said it knew nothing about this.
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