Washington Report, July 14, 1986, Page 18

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

June 5:

The U.S. announced it was banning the sale to Syria of eight chemicals that might be used to help Iran develop and produce mustard and nerve gases for use in the Iran-Iraq war. In March 1984, the U.S. imposed a similar ban on chemical sales to Iran and Iraq.

June 7:

Staff Sergeant James Goins died in West Berlin from injuries he sustained during the terrorist bombing of a West Berlin night club April 5. Goins was the second American, and third person overall, to die as a result of the early April attack.

June 9:

President Reagan met privately with Jordan's King Hussein in Washington to discuss the current situation in the Middle East. Following the meeting U.S. officials said that both leaders had expressed their concern that without progress toward peace, the region could once again "drift" toward war.

June 10:

In an interview with Washington Post reporters, Jordan's King Hussein said that the Reagan Administration's decision to withdraw its planned arms sale to Jordan ended "30 years of a very close association" between the U.S. and Jordanian armed forces. The Jordanian monarch added: "We don't know how long this will last, but certainly for the foreseeable future we are reorienting ourselves toward Europe and other sources.

June 10:

U.S. Justice Department officials said they are considering revoking the immunity from prosecution granted to Rafael Eitan and other Israeli officials last fall in connection with the Pollard spy case because of concerns that the Israelis may have misled the U.S. as to the nature and extent of the Israeli espionage effort in the U.S.

June 12:

Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel-Halim Abu Ghazala arrived in Washington for a seven-day official visit encompassing talks with Vice President George Bush, Secretary of State George Shultz, and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. Egypt's interest payments on its $4.5 billion military debt to the U.S., which will exceed $550 million in 1986, up from $480 million in 1985, were expected to be a major topic of discussion in the U.S.-Egyptian talks.

June 13:

President Reagan told journalists that recent U.S. initiatives to secure the release of five American hostages held in Lebanon "didn't work out," causing him "great disappointment." "We have gone down channel after channel and many of them have brought us to the point where we believed that within a few days we were going to be successful and then would find a dead end that didn't work out," Reagan said.

June 15:

Western diplomatic sources in Tripoli, Libya, said unsuccessful secret negotiations had been held during the previous 10 days for return of what the Libyan government claims is the body of one of two U.S. airmen lost during the April 15 air strike against the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi.

June 16:

Afghan resistance leaders met with President Reagan in Washington and urged the U.S. government to sever diplomatic relations with the Soviet-backed regime in Kabul and to extend full recognition to the rebels. Following the meeting, White House spokesman Larry Speakes explained that President Reagan believed such a move would be "premature" because the U.S. diplomatic presence in Kabul "plays a role in our efforts to be helpful to the resistance and our effort to continue working with the Afghan people" against the continuing Soviet occupation.

June 18:

President Reagan sent to Congress his certification that Saudi Arabia has contributed substantially to the resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict and is thereby eligible to receive the five AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) planes sold to the Kingdom in 1981. Reagan noted that the Fez Plan, which was adopted in 1982 by the Arab League and which "moved the formal Arab position from rejection of peace to consideration of how to achieve peace with Israel," was originally developed by Saudi Arabia.