Washington Report, February 20, Page 6

Facts For Your Files: A Chronology of U.S.-Middle East Relations

February 5:

Lebanese President Amin Gemayel accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Shafiq Wazzan. All nine ministers of his cabinet, both Christian and Muslim, also resigned. Mr. Wazzan said he was quitting to help improve chances for the creation of a government of "reconciliation."

February 6:

President Reagan said that his support of Amin Gemayel's government in Lebanon "remains firm and unwavering." Leaders of anti-government Druze and Shiite militias—whose forces took control of most of West Beirut after five days of fighting with the Lebanese army—were calling for Mr. Gemayel's resignation. The President also said: "I call on the government of Syria, which occupies Lebanese territory from which much of the shelling of civilian centers originates and which facilitates and supplies instruments for terroristic attacks on the people of Lebanon, to cease this activity."

February 6:

Two carrier-launched U.S. jets bombed targets in the Shuf mountains east of Beirut, while a U.S. warship off the coast shelled the same area using its 5-inch guns. The American shelling—which marine spokesman Major Dennis Brooks described as "extremely aggressive"—came after one marine at the airport compound was wounded by incoming rockets that were launched from Druze-held positions in the Shuf.

February 7:

President Reagan announced he had decided to begin withdrawing U. S. marines to American ships offshore. The President also said he had authorized U.S. naval and air forces to carry out attacks "against any units firing into greater Beirut from parts of Lebanon controlled by Syria..." These steps, he added, "are consistent with the compromise joint resolution worked out last October with the Congress..."

February 7:

The U.S. battleship New Jersey fired its 5-inch guns at positions south of the Beirut airport, from which shells were being fired at the U.S. marine compound.

February 8:

For more than nine hours, the USS New Jersey fired 340 rounds from its 16-inch guns at 15 "pre-selected targets" inside Syrian- controlled territory in Lebanon. Over four hundred 5-inch shells were also fired by other U.S. ships at the same targets, which included command bunkers, ammunition dumps, and rocket and gun sites. The bombardment was part of the Administration's new policy of shelling opposition positions which fire into greater Beirut.

February 8:

Several hours after President Reagan announced that he was going to remove U.S. marines from Lebanon, Great Britain withdrew its 115-man contingent of the multinational force to a ship offshore. Italy also ordered a gradual pullback of its 1,600-man force, while the French government said that its soldiers would remain for the time being.

February 8:

White House spokesman Larry Speakes said the U.S. had not "cut and run" from Lebanon, but rather had implemented a "more effective" strategy than the "static" marine deployment. "The mission remains, the goals remain..." Mr. Speakes said. Secretary Shultz said the proposed withdrawal was merely "a change in the pattern of redeployment."

February 9:

For the second day in a row, U.S. gunships shelled antigovernment forces who had been firing on East Beirut. The destroyer Moosbrugger fired approximately 150 rounds from its 5-inch guns at "artillery positions" in the mountains east of Beirut, according to a spokesman for the marines.

February 9:

In comments to a House committee, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger said that the U.S. bombing of Druze held territory on February 8 was intended to show that the U.S. was "not giving up" on its 17-month-old mission in Lebanon. A somewhat different explanation was given by White House spokesman Larry Speakes, who said the bombing was an attempt to ensure "the safety of American and other multinational force personnel in Lebanon."

February 9:

State-controlled Damascus radio warned that Syria might be "compelled to react" to continued U.S. shelling of Druze and Syrian-held territory in Lebanon. "Syria cannot stand neutral watching the barbaric bombardment practiced by the (U.S.) Sixth Fleet against Lebanese civilians," according to the broadcast.

February 11:

More than 800 American civilians were evacuated from Beirut during a three-day operation that came to a close today. On February 6 and 7, over forty "non-essential" U.S. embassy personnel, and their dependents, were evacuated.

February 11:

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir warned the Lebanese government that if it abrogated the withdrawal agreement it signed with Israel last May 17, "there will be in this an expression of the giving up of her independence." He added. "When the Lebanese party, the party of the Lebanese government, no longer participates in security arrangements, we will have to take care of these arrangements unilaterally with the aid of other parties."

February 14:

President Reagan held a joint meeting at the White House with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Hussein. In his farewell remarks, President Mubarak said: "There is no substitute for a direct dialogue with (the Palestinians) through their chosen representative, the PLO." King Hussein met separately with Mr. Reagan on February 13.

February 15:

President Reagan notified Congress in a report that the redeployment" of the marines in Lebanon to ships offshore will begin "as soon as conditions warrant, with a tentative goal of completion within 30 days." An unspecified number of men, the report said, would "remain on the ground for the protection of our remaining personnel."

February 16:

President Amin Gemayel of Lebanon accepted a Saudi sponsored "peace plan" which included a call for the abrogation of the Lebanon-Israel agreement signed in May, 1983. U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz had said on February 15: "Those who would dispense with this agreement must bear the responsibility to find alternative formulas for Israeli withdrawal."