The Reagan Administration said today there were no immediate plans for special U.S. envoy Philip Habib to be sent back to the Middle East in an effort to persuade the Syrians to withdraw their troops from Lebanon.
State Department deputy spokesman Alan Romberg maintained however that Habib continues to remain engaged in Middle East developments. This was stressed after Habib’s meeting today at the White House with President Reagan. Romberg would not provide details of the meeting but said later that Habib was also conferring with Secretary of State George Shultz.
With no high level presence by the Administration in the region, as in the form of Habib or Shultz, the U.S. appears undecided on its next steps to seek a Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon. The Israeli-Lebanese agreement signed May 17 for the withdrawal of Israeli troops remains operational on condition of a Syrian withdrawal.
Romberg meanwhile said that U.S. policy toward the Israeli settlement activity on the West Bank remains unchanged despite comments made by Reagan in a telephone question and answer session with the editors and publishers of the American Jewish Press Association last month as reported today by syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak.
Reagan was asked whether the settlements were an obstacle to peace and replied, “No I don’t, I really don’t.” The syndicated columnists wrote today that this was an indication of a change in U.S. policy toward the Middle East in an effort to woo Jewish votes should Reagan seek to run for re-election.
Romberg referred reporters today to Reagan’s September I Middle East peace initiative in which he called for a freeze on Israeli settlements on the West Bank. “That has been and remains U.S. policy,” Romberg said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
