Reagan Administration officials today confirmed the resignation of U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Nicholas Veliotes, and denied reports that he was forced out in an effort to smooth relations with Egypt following the Achille Lauro hijacking last October.
Calling the envoy’s performance in Egypt “topnotch, ” White House spokesman Larry Speakes said that Veliotes decided to end his long career in the Foreign Service because he was offered an attractive position in the private sector. He will reportedly become president of the New York-based Association of American Publishers.
Veliotes most recently came to public attention last fall, when his angry demands that Egypt prosecute the hijackers of the Italian cruiseship Achille Lauro was recorded without his knowledge and aired on radio and television. The following day it was discovered that the terrorists, who had killed an elderly American Jewish passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, had been flown out of the country, and new tensions were created when U.S. jet fighters forced the Egyptian plane that was carrying them to land in Sicily.
According to one report, Veliotes was forced out after a “shouting match” with Secretary of State George Shultz, who had requested that he return to Washington for consultations following the incident. But State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb vigorously denied today that the resignation was anything other than a personal decision.
Veliotes, 57, has served in numerous Middle East related posts, including that of Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs from 1981 to 1983, when he left for Cairo. During his 30 year career with the Foreign Service, he was also Ambassador to Jordan, 1978-81, and earlier, 1973-75, Deputy Chief of Mission in Tel Aviv.
Veliotes will reportedly be replaced by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Wisner. The State Department would not comment today on who would be nominated or when an announcement would be made. Wisner’s other Middle East posts have been in Algiers and Tunis.
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