U.S. Says It is ‘critical’ That the Cease-fire in Lebanon Be ‘scrupulously Observed’ at This Time

The Reagan Administration stressed today that it is “critical” that the cease-fire in Lebanon “be scrupulously observed” because of the progress that special envoy Philip Habib is making toward getting the PLO terrorists to leave Lebanon.

“It is our view that there is momentum and that Ambassador Habib has made substantial progress in the past few days in working out the practical arrangements for the PLO departure from Lebanon,” State Department Deputy spokesman Alan Romberg said.

“If the cease-fire holds, we can have a negotiated solution,” Romberg continued. “Thus it is essential that all sides to the conflict exercise the utmost restraint and scrupulously observe the cease-fire. We trust that all parties will cooperate to support Ambassador Habib’s mission.”

Although the statement was seen here as a warning to Israel, Romberg said, as the Administration has maintained throughout the conflict in Lebanon, that there is no way for the U.S. to tell which side started the shooting first. The spokesman said he had no information about today’s events in which Israel reportedly attacked PLO positions behind Syrian lines north of Beirut. Romberg refused to say what specific effect a breakdown of the cease-fire would have on negotiations. “It certainly won’t help,” he said.

State Department officials said the Habib negotiations still have not nailed down where the PLO will go when they leave Beirut or when the international peacekeeping force will enter the Lebanese capital. Israeli officials revealed yesterday that they are willing to allow the peacekeeping force to enter after the majority of the PLO leave, instead, as they had earlier demanded, that it come in only after all of the some 6,000 PLO terrorists have departed.

But Premier Menachem Begin stressed that the U.S., France and Italy, which along with Lebanon will make up a peacekeeping force, will be responsible to ensure that all the terrorists leave.

Romberg refused to comment that the U.S. may reassess its economic and military ties with Israel because of the “profound differences” that have emerged between the two countries in the last few days. But he said that the U.S. must “obviously” look beyond the immediate Beirut situation to the overall Mideast situation, including the need for all foreign troops to leave Lebanon and toward establishing “Lebanese central authority — throughout Lebanon.”

He added that as Secretary of State George Shultz has said, the U.S. also needs “to address on an urgent basis the question of the overall peace process. “But he refused to discuss specifics

Meanwhile, Israel’s Ambassador Moshe Arens flew back to Jerusalem yesterday for consultations with his government.