Reagan Challenges Fahd to Promote Israeli Talks : Saudi King Stresses Palestinians

WASHINGTON —  President Reagan, saying it is time to “turn the page to a new and happier chapter” in the troubled Middle East, asked King Fahd today to use Saudi Arabia’s “considerable influence and moral suasion” to bring about direct negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

But Fahd asserted that it is up to the United States to lend its efforts in support of the Palestinians--who he said have “committed no wrong that can justify what has befallen them”--and gave no response to indicate that Saudi Arabia might heed Reagan’s call for talks with Israel.

The President greeted Fahd, the first major Arab leader to visit Reagan during his second term, on the South Lawn of the White House before Cabinet members, other top officials and dozens of Saudis attired in traditional flowing desert robes.

“The security of Israel and other nations of the region and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people can and should be addressed in direct negotiations,” Reagan told the king. “It is time to put this tragedy to rest and turn the page to a new and happier chapter.”

1st Visit Since 1971

The king’s five-day visit, filled with high-level talks and glittering social events, marks the first official visit by a Saudi king to the U.S. capital since King Faisal met with President Nixon in 1971.

After Fahd received a 21-gun salute, a U.S. military band played the U.S. and Saudi anthems, and a drum-and-bugle corps arrayed in Colonial garb played “Yankee Doodle” as it marched past the reviewing stand.

The two leaders then retired for nearly an hour of talks that included Secretary of State George P. Shultz, U.S. national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane and others. Fahd was joined by Saudi ministers.

In his formal statement, Reagan told the king that peace in the Middle East “will require courage, integrity and wisdom.” He said Fahd and his predecessors have shown such traits, adding, “Together our considerable influence and moral suasion can decrease the threat of war.”

“If the Saudi and American governments focus their energies progress can be made, especially in the lingering dispute between Israel and her neighbors,” Reagan said.

Response in Arabic

Fahd read his remarks in Arabic after apologizing that his English was not sufficiently fluent. His statements were relayed through a translator.

Noting that the United States has long supported “the right of peoples to freedom, independence and self-determination,” he said the majority of Arabs have gained their freedom since World War II, except for the Palestinians.

“They,” the monarch said, “the Palestinians, who were never aggressors or invaders, found themselves through no fault of their own, the victims of unjust aggression. The Palestinian question is the single problem that is of paramount concern to the whole Arab nation and affects the relations of its people and countries with the outside world.”

About 1 million Palestinian Arabs live under Israeli jurisdiction on the West Bank of the Jordan River and in Gaza. Many others have lived in Israel since it was established in 1948.