The Reagan Administration today welcomed the announcement that Israel and Lebanon will begin talks aimed at bringing about the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon but stressed that the U.S. would not take part in the negotiations.
“We welcome this development as an important step toward working out security arrangements leading to an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon,” State Department spokesman Alan Romberg said. The United Nations announced yesterday that the talks will begin Monday at Naqura, the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). “We have supported the UN effort,” Romberg said but he refused to comment on what part the U.S. played in bringing about the talks.
U.S. WILL NOT PARTICIPATE
Romberg emphasized that “there will not be U.S. participation in these talks. “Despite Israeli requests that the U.S. act as a mediator in negotiations on Lebanon, the U.S. has maintained it will not do so as long as the parties involved — Israel, Syria and Lebanon — are so far apart.
With the unity government of Premier Shimon Peres committed to a troop withdrawal from Lebanon as soon as possible, it was perhaps decided by the Israelis that the UN would be the next best bet to mediate the negotiations.
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