U.S. special envoy Philip Habib is returning home from Beirut, the State Department announced today. It remained unclear, however, whether Habib met with any success on this, his fourth and latest visit to the Middle East since May to help ease the Israeli-Syrian missile issue in Lebanon.
State Department spokesman Dean Fischer said there could be no assessment of Habib’s trip until the envoy reports to Secretary of State Alexander Haig and to President Reagan. Fischer said that while Habib’s mission is continuing, it will be up to Reagan to decide if he returns to the region. The State Department spokesman would say only that Habib had completed his current round of visits to Mideastern countries — Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Although Fischer would not confirm this, Habib is expected to report to Haig in Europe before returning to Washington. The Secretary of State leaves for Brussels tonight to attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Council.
Fischer said that Haig will be discussing the “pace” of the autonomy talks between Israel and Egypt when he visits those countries next week. He is scheduled to go to Israel next Sunday. He will make an airport stop in Egypt on Dec. 19, on his way back to the U.S. after visiting Turkey, Pakistan and India. He will also stop over in Morocco.
Fischer noted that Haig told Shimon Peres, leader of Israel’s opposition Labor Party at a meeting here yesterday, that he will speak about the pace of the autonomy talks with Israeli and Egyptian officials before the end of the year. Peres urged the U.S. to upgrade its representation at the talks by appointing a special envoy to them as did the Carter Administration. Fischer said the Reagan Administration has maintained that it would assess the level of U.S. participation in the talks as they continue.
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