The Reagan Administration stressed today that it is determined to maintain its policy in Lebanon despite the rapidly deteriorating situation in that country.
There is “no change” in the U.S. decision to keep the marines in Beirut as part of the multinational force and to support the government of Lebanon, State Department deputy spokesman Alan Romberg said. He also said there was no change in U.S. support for the Israel-Lebanon withdrawal and security agreement of May 17, 1983.
Abrogation of that agreement is one of the demands being made by Syrian-backed groups in Lebanon of President Amin Gemayel for moving toward a reconstituted Lebanese government. Asked what would happen if Gemayel did abrogate the agreement, Romberg said he would not discuss hypothetical questions.
U.S. EVACUATING PERSONNEL
Romberg made his remarks as he announced that the U.S. is evacuating all non-essential personnel and dependents from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, leaving 34 persons at the Embassy. There are another 1,300 non-government employed Americans in Beirut.
The State Department spokesman denied that the evacuation today was the first sign of a U.S. pull-out from Lebanon. He said the building occupied by Americans had been shelled and that while no one was hurt, it was “prudent” to evacuate the dependents and non-essential employes to ships of the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean.
Romberg rejected suggestions that the U.S. was considering pulling out the marines. Because of the present situation, the House Foreign Affairs Committee has postponed action on a resolution to pull the marines out of Beirut immediately. Romberg said the U.S. was always seeking ways to improve the safety of the marines and the other multinational troops but there is no talk of a pull-out.
Richard Murphy, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, who was in Beirut today, was expected to go to Europe to discuss the situation with the other countries providing troops to the MNF–France, Italy and Britain.
The U.S., for the second successive day, shelled Shiite and Druze positions in the Shouf mountains. The battleship New Jersey opened fire on Druze positions today after a marine was injured and French forces were attacked.
President Reagan yesterday blamed Syria for the shelling of Beirut that erupted over the weekend and has continued through today. “I call on the government of Syria, which occupies Lebanese territory from which much of the shelling of civilian centers originates and which facilitates and supplies instruments for terrorist attacks on the people of Lebanon, to cease this activity,” Reagan said in a statement in Dixon, III., where he was celebrating his 73rd birthday.
Reagan stressed that “the commitment of the U.S. to the unity, independence and sovereignty of Lebanon remains firm and unwavering. We will continue to support the government and the people of Lebanon in their efforts to achieve these goals.”
The Administration continued to maintain today that the naval and air strikes yesterday and today are not in support of the Gemayel government but only in defense of American and other members of the MNF. That same position was stressed to a group of American Jewish leaders at a meeting yesterday with National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane at the White House, according to Julius Berman, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
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