Washington Report, April 2, 1984, Page 6

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

March 16:

William F. Buckley, first secretary in the political section of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, was kidnapped outside his home while on his way to work. No group claimed responsibility. He was the third American to be kidnapped since opposition groups took control of West Beirut last February 6. The two others were Frank Regier, a professor at the American University of Beirut, and Jeremy Levin, bureau chief for Cable News Network.

March 19:

Two AWACS surveillance planes arrived in Egypt, sent there by the U.S. in response to a bombing raid on the Sudanese city of Omdurman "by a Libyan aircraft" on March 16. According to State Department spokesman Alan Romberg: "The AWACS will take part in combined air defense operations being carried out by Egypt and Sudan. The purpose of these operations is to deter sustained attacks by demonstrating that the three countries can rapidly put in place the assets necessary to deal with such aggression."

March 20:

Defending U.S. policy in the Middle East—which came under strong criticism from King Hussein of Jordan in an interview with The New York Times several days earlier—Secretary of State George Shultz said: "We have to get over this notion that every time things don't go just to everybody's satisfaction in the Middle East, it's the United States's fault or it's up to the United States to do something about it."

March 21:

White House spokesman Larry Speakes announced that President Reagan had decided on March 20 to withdraw proposals from Congress to sell Stinger antiaircraft missiles to Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The Administration had notified Congress on February 29 of its plans to sell 1,200 Stingers to Saudi Arabia, and then sent a separate notification the next day, March 1, for the sale of 1,613 missiles to Jordan. Mr. Speakes cited "increasing opposition" to the sale in Congress as the reason for the President's decision.

March 22:

Amid increasing publicity over a congressional bill to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the two frontrunners for the Democratic presidential nomination addressed the issue in campaign appearances. Senator Gary Hart said that "as President, I will move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem"—a position which had evolved in the previous two weeks, he said later in the day. Walter Mondale, who also has said publicly that he would move the embassy, accused Senator Hart of doing a "flip-flop" and that he had previously opposed relocating the embassy.

March 28:

When asked if he would veto a proposed congressional bill requiring the U.S. to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, President Reagan replied: "I am hoping I won't have to. But like the several previous presidents before me, I think that that is a most unwise thing. It should never have been introduced in our Congress." The President made the statement to The New York Times.