The Reagan Administration continued to express its satisfaction that the cease-fire in Lebanon was being maintained following President Reagan’s expression of “outrage” by telephone to Premier Menachem Begin last Thursday over Israel’s bombardment of west Beirut.
At the same time, Reagan conferred over the weekend at Camp David with Secretary of State George Shultz and other Administration foreign policy specialists to discuss U.S. policy in the Middle East after the crisis in Lebanon is resolved.
“The cease-fire is holding well,” State Department Deputy spokesman Alan Romberg said Friday. “We have a report from our people in Beirut that the other unaccustomed silence is very pleasant’.”
Romberg stressed that “all parties” must “strictly” observe the ceasefire “so that the negations can continue to make progress. Maintenance of the cease-fire is absolutely essential for progress.”
Among those who conferred with Reagan at the presidential retreat were: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Deaver; Presidential Counselor Edwin Meese; Assistant Secretory of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs Nicholas Veliotes; special Middle East negotiator Richard Fairbanks; and National Security Council Deputy assistant Robert Mc-Farlane.
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