Washington Report, September 8, 1986, Page 18

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

July 15:

Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammed Khan Junejo arrived in Washington for three days of official talks with President Reagan and senior Administration officials.

July 16:

At a House of Representatives hearing on terrorism against Americans of Arab descent, FBI executive assistant director Oliver B. Revell said the bureau had made solving the 1985 murder of Alex Odeh, the former West Coast regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a "top priority." Revell, noted that "we have suspects in this case and are pursuing those suspects," and that "substantial progress" had been made in the investigation.

July 17:

The U.S. and Pakistan signed a technology-sharing agreement allowing that key southwest Asian country to purchase sensitive American technology, including mainframe computers and advanced telecommunications equipment.

July 17:

President Reagan nominated John H. Kelly, a career foreign service officer, to be the new U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, succeeding Reginald Bartholomew.

July 18:

Morris Draper, the U.S. Consul-General in Jerusalem, said the Reagan administration is considering a "new direction" for its aid program in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip that would place greater emphasis on aiding private entrepreneurs instead of the program's current "social welfare orientation."

July 21:

In an unexpected development, Israeli Prime Minister Peres flew to Morocco for talks with Morocco's King Hassan II—the first public meeting between high-ranking Arab and Israeli officials since 1981. U.S. government sources called the meetings between the two leaders an "historic opportunity to further the cause of peace" in the Middle East.

July 23:

Federal law enforcement officials charged seven men, two Libyan nationals and five American businessmen, with selling two Lockheed LIOO-30 civilian transport planes (these are basically the same as the C-130 military transport craft currently used by the U.S. Air Force and are easily modified) and spare parts worth $57.4 million to Libya in 1985. U.S. officials also charged that the seven attempted to purchase two additional Lockheed transports, but that the plot was discovered before the deal was concluded. (Sales to Libya of military equipment and civilian material with potential military value have been prohibited by the U.S. government since 1978.)

July 23:

Sources in Pakistan and Afghanistan said the Pakistani government, worried about possible retaliation by the Soviet Union, has suspended the U.S.-financed program to supply the Afghan rebels with U.S.-built Stinger antiaircraft missiles.

July 24:

Reagan administration sources said that a program to supply Afghan rebels with U.S.-built Stinger antiaircraft missiles, reportedly halted July 23 by the Pakistani government, never existed. One unidentified U.S. official said flatly: "There was an idea, sure, but there never was such a program." The same official added, however, that the U.S. has supplied Pakistan with Stingers to defend itself from incursions into Pakistani territory by Soviet-built Afghan Air Force planes.

July 26:

The Rev. Lawrence Jenco was released by his Shiite Muslim captors after being held hostage in Lebanon for 18 months. Following his release, the American Catholic priest from Glencoe, Illinois, told reporters that he had been held with three other Americans—Terry Anderson, David Jacobsen and Thomas Sutherland—but had never seen the fourth missing American—U.S. diplomat William Buckley.

July 27:

Vice President Bush arrived in Israel at the beginning of a 12-day trip to the Middle East scheduled to include talks with Israeli, Jordanian and Egyptian leaders.

July 28:

Morocco's King Hassan II resigned as chairman of the 21-nation Arab League summit following criticism by rejectionist Arab states of his meeting with Israeli Minister Peres. U.S. Middle East experts said Hassan's decision to step down might result in a new Arab summit meeting being held in the near future to discuss the Israeli-Moroccan meetings and a joint Arab peace initiative.

July 29:

Vice President Bush, in Israel, said direct talks between Israeli Prime Minister Peres and Jordan's King Hussein would be the "next logical step"—following the recent meeting between Peres and Morocco's King Hassan II—in reviving the stalled Mideast peace process.

July 31:

Reagan Administration officials said the U.S. had—for the first time—decided to redirect $4.5 million in aid destined for the Israeli-occupied West Bank through Jordan. Previously, all U.S. aid had been provided to private volunteer organizations in the occupied territories. Although U.S. officials said the action did not represent a major policy shift, U.S. Mideast analysts said the decision would make it harder for the Israeli government to control how U.S. monies are spent in the territories and thereby lend support for King Hussein's $1.2 billion economic development plan for the area.

August 3:

U.S. Representative Robert Doman said that Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi "bought from their captors" three hostages—Britons Philip Padfield and John Leigh Douglas and American Peter Kilburn—and had them killed in retaliation for the April 15 U.S. air raid against his country. A State Department spokesman who demanded anonymity said: "We can't absolutely confirm Congressman Doman's account, but there may well be something to it."

August 3:

During a visit to a 100-man contingent of the multilateral force stationed in the Sinai Peninsula, Vice President Bush said that a "growing consensus" for peace in the region will lead to a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict "certainly within a decade."

August 8:

State Department spokesman Charles Redman confirmed that an American engineer, Jon Pattis, was arrested by Iranian authorities in mid-July and charged with spying for the U.S.

August 8:

Secretary of State Shultz said that the U.S. and the Soviet Union, currently involved in preliminary talks concerning the next summit meeting between President Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev, have also begun discussing cooperative action to resolve the six-year-old Iran-Iraq war.

August 10:

Talks between Egyptian and Israeli representatives over the disputed Taba area of the Sinai concluded with the two sides agreeing to a draft accord calling for arbitration of the contested territory. The delegations were unable, however, to agree on details of a survey of the contested area or on the selection of arbitrators.

August 10:

Israeli Prime Minister Peres said he will continue to seek peace talks with Arab countries even after the scheduled October end of his tenure as prime minister.

August 11:

Lebanon's Christian-owned Central Information Agency reported that American hostage Terry Anderson is "sick and suffering from health problems that confine him to bed." U.S. officials said they had no information on Anderson's health.

August 14:

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Richard Murphy, in testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, said that Iran had gained the "strategic initiative" in the Gulf war and warned that an Iranian victory against Iraq would be a "major setback for U.S. interests in the region."