The Reagan Administration appeared undecided today as to whether it will be necessary for Secretary of State George Shultz to return to the Middle East to conclude an agreement for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Elie Salem, in Washington for meetings with Administration officials, said today at the American Enterprise Institute that Syria will probably seek a high level American involvement in negotiating a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, simultaneously with the withdrawal of Israeli troops and Palestine Liberation Organization forces.
At the same time, Philip Habib, President Reagan’s special envoy to the Mideast, was in Washington this week for “consultations.” It was reported earlier that Habib, along with U.S. Ambassadors to several Mideast countries, would meet in Washington to discuss efforts to persuade the Syrians to withdraw.
At the State Department, deputy spokesman Alan Romberg would only say it is “premature” to speculate on whether the U.S. is prepared to play a high level role as Salem suggested earlier. “We have a continuing deep interest in this question and the issue of getting all foreign forces out of Lebanon and we continue to have an active diplomatic dialogue with a variety of parties on the subject, ” Romberg said.
Romberg also reiterated that the U.S. had “discussed” the Middle East issue and the withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon with the Soviet Union, although he said he could provide no details of these exchanges. “We have discussed the Middle East issue with the Soviets … and our objectives is to get all foreign forces out of Lebanon and restore Lebanese sovereignty throughout the country while assuring security across Israel’s northern border.”
The Department spokesman said that he was not aware of any consideration to reopen the Israeli-Lebanese agreement signed May 17. He acknowledged that Secretary of State George Shultz, while in the Mideast indicated, the Syrians might be concerned over some aspects of the agreement, but the concerns do “not equate to the question of reopening the agreement,” he said. The concerns may be that the security zone in south Lebanon might go over into the Syrian-Lebanese border.
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