Washington Report, June 17, 1985, Page 8

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

May 28:

David Jacobsen, the director of the American University Hospital in Beirut, was kidnapped while walking to his office. Islamic Jihad, which recently released photographs of four Americans missing in Lebanon, said it abducted Mr. Jacobsen.

May 28:

FBI agents subpoenaed between 15 and 18 Libyans in the U.S. to appear before a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia. The grand jury was investigating their possible involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate other Libyans in the U.S. who oppose the rule of Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qaddafi.

May 29:

In remarks at the White House following a meeting with President Reagan, King Hussein of Jordan said: "I have also assured the President that on the basis of the Jordan-PLO Accord of 11th February, and as a result of my recent talks with the PLO, and in view of our genuine desire for peace, we are willing to negotiate within the context of an international conference, a peaceful settlement on the basis of the pertinent United Nations resolutions, including Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338." Asked by a reporter if the Palestinians bad agreed to negotiate on the basis of those U.N. resolutions, King Hussein replied: "Every word I've made in my statement is a result of agreement between us and the PLO."

May 31:

Secretary of State George Shultz, in summing up King Hussein's four-day visit to Washington, said that "what the King has done is move the (peace) process in a very significant way." Mr. Shultz added that "obstacles" would have to be overcome before a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation could negotiate directly with Israel. "We continue to believe that the proposed international conference will not contribute to the peace process," Mr. Shultz said, "but we will continue to seek ways in which international support for direct negotiations can be made evident."

June 4:

A non-binding resolution opposing a U.S. arms sale to Jordan was introduced in the Senate with the endorsement of 69 Senators. The resolution included the following statement: "The United States should not sell advanced fighter aircraft, mobile anti-aircraft missiles, or any other advanced arms to Jordan under present conditions, in which Jordan continues to oppose the Camp David peace process and purchases arms from the Soviet Union, and in which such sales jeopardize both the security of Israel and progress towards peace in the Middle East." Principal sponsors of the resolution were Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and John Heinz (R-PA).

June 4:

Secretary of State George Shultz criticized the move in the Senate to prohibit U.S. arms sales to Jordan until it enters direct negotiations with Israel. "King Hussein has taken some important initiatives that are positive, that move in the direction of peace, that move in the direction of direct negotiations, that employ the word 'nonbelligerency,’" Mr. Shultz said. "And to greet these moves by the Senate sticking its finger in his eye doesn't seem to me to be a particularly good thing for the United States to do."

June 5:

The U.S. expelled a Libyan who worked as an administrative attache in Libya's Mission to the United Nations because, the State Department announced, "he has been identified as being involved in a Libyan-directed plot against Libyan dissidents in the United States." The expulsion of Farhat Tiber came a few days after a federal grand jury began hearing testimony from other Libyans in the U. S. concerning an alleged assassination plot. So far no indictments have been made from that investigation.

June 10:

Israel completed the withdrawal of its combat forces from southern Lebanon, although an undisclosed number of Israeli soldiers remained inside a security belt Israel established in Lebanon that ranges from approximately five to nine miles north of the Israeli border. Since Israel launched its invasion of Lebanon on June 6, 1982, it has suffered 654 dead and almost 4,000 wounded. During the invasion tens of thousands of Lebanese and Palestinians also were killed and wounded.

June 10:

Thomas Sutherland, dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut, was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen as he drove from the Beirut airport. He became the eighth American to be kidnapped in Lebanon since March, 1984. One, Jeremy Levin, a correspondent for Cable News Network, escaped and the others are still missing.

June 10:

Prime Minister Shimon Peres of Israel proposed a five-stage plan to begin direct negotiations between Israel, Jordan and Palestinian representatives that would lead to an international conference within three months. However, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council would be asked only to "support" direct negotiations between a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation and Israel "without committing themselves in advance to support the stand of one of the sides." Mr. Peres said that the next new step would be the formation of "a narrow Jordanian-Palestinian and Israeli team" to prepare an agenda for the conference. Mr. Peres's plan included no provision for preliminary meetings between the U.S. and an Arab delegation. The Prime Minister said a preliminary meeting, as proposed by King Hussein of Jordan and endorsed by the U.S., "is a program for vanquishing Israel, not for negotiations with Israel."

June 11:

The Reagan Administration had no immediate praise or criticism of the five-point plan proposed June 10 by Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb said only that it "reaffirms our view that there is an appreciation in the area for the need to begin early negotiations, hopefully by the end of the year."

June 11:

The House defeated an amendment to a supplemental spending bill for fiscal year 1985 that would have denied Egypt $500 million in economic aid that had been requested by the Reagan Administration. The amendment, offered by Rep.Hank Brown (R-CO), lost by a vote of 314 to 110.