Robert Strauss, President Carter’s special Ambassador to the Middle East, disclosed here last Friday that he met here with a prominent West Bank Palestinian last Tuesday for more than on hour.
Speaking to reporters prior to his departure for the Middle East with a U.S. business delegation, Strauss at first would say only that he had visited with a “distinguished West Bank Palestinian” and that “I won’t give you his name.” But he relented and identified the Palestinian as Al Masri, chairman of the Board of Trustees of An Najal University in Nablus. After identifying Masri, Strauss said, amid laughter, “I trust he won’t mind. We will soon find out.”
Masri is in the United States for about a month with his first stop in Washington. His itinerary was arranged by the International Communication Agency, the successor to the U.S. Information Agency. and the State Department, under their international visitors program. Other West Bank and Gaza Strip residents, including mayors, have come to the U.S. under this program. Masri was nominated by the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem. Masri was accompanied by the president of the university. Kayad Abdul Hoq.
The State Department told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Masri is a former Speaker of the Jordanian Parliament but that he has “no strictly political role at the moment.” Nevertheless, Masri lunched with Assistant Secretary of State Harold Sounders, met with National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Newsom, in addition to Strauss However, the Department said Masri will not see Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. Masri was described by the State Department as a moderate and not a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
WILL HOLD FOLLOW-THROUGH DISCUSSIONS
Referring to his meetings in Egypt and Israel this week, Strauss described them as “follow-through” discussions he previously held there. “President Carter is exceedingly anxious” for a “rather in-depth report” on how Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Premier Menachem Begin “perceive” the “ranging, relaxed discussions” he will hold with them, the special envoy told reporters.
Strauss said he had “no planned agenda” but that the subjects would present themselves. “I have no mandate or set of instructions,” he said. “I am going with a limited and specific intent” to “explore what took place” in the meetings between Sadat and Begin in Haifa.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
