Some Palestinians Nominated by Arafat for Mideast Talks Are Acceptable, U.S. Official Says

The Reagan Administration, inching closer to preliminary Mideast peace talks with a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, said Wednesday that it could negotiate with some of the seven people nominated by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.

“I think that some of the names will be acceptable,” Assistant Secretary of State Richard W. Murphy told a House subcommittee one day after Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres said his government would not object to two of the seven names.

Meanwhile, the Administration sent Congress its long-delayed Mideast security study, apparently clearing the way for President Reagan to propose major arms sales to Jordan and Saudi Arabia later this year. Congressional supporters of Israel served immediate notice that they will fight to block the weapons package.

Murphy would not say if the United States would negotiate with any of the Palestinian nominees rejected by Peres, although he insisted, “We will be reaching our own decisions on the individuals we will be meeting with.”

Enough to Start Talks

Two or three Palestinians would probably be enough to get the talks started. Under terms worked out during Jordanian King Hussein’s visit to Washington earlier this year, the Arab delegation will include equal numbers of Jordanians and Palestinians. U.S. officials have said previously that a six-member delegation--three Jordanians and three Palestinians--is about the right size.

Despite repeated questions from members of the House subcommittee on the Middle East, Murphy declined to say if the United States would ask Jordan for additional nominees. But he hinted that the Palestinians already approved may be enough when he said, “No party is being rigid about the numbers.”

Hussein, claiming the full backing of Arafat, urged the United States to meet with a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation as a preliminary step toward face-to-face peace talks with Israel. He said the PLO would accept two key U.N. Security Council resolutions guaranteeing Israel peace within recognized borders if the meeting with the Americans takes place.

The United States said it would participate if the talks are likely to lead to direct negotiations with Israel. However, Washington refuses to have anything to do with members of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Arafat nominated 22 Palestinians as possible members of the delegation. Jordan pared the list to seven.

Peres Softens Position

Although Israel at first opposed any U.S. meeting with a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, Peres softened that position when he told a parliamentary committee that two of the seven Palestinians are acceptable to him. However, the right-wing Likud bloc, which shares power with Peres’ Labor alignment in Israel’s coalition goverenment, objects to all seven names.

Several subcommittee members, all strong supporters of Israel, objected that the Administration’s peace effort is ill-timed. But Murphy said: “Maybe no time is ideal, but is any time a bad time to advance when you see an opportunity? We’re not going to steamroller Israel into negotiations. They are very interested (although they are) skeptical.”

Earlier this year, the Administration suspended all arms sales to the Middle East pending the completion of a security study by the State and Defense departments and the CIA. Congressional sources said the study, outlined to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a secret session Tuesday, emphasized the military threat faced by Jordan and Saudi Arabia from enemies other than Israel. The sources predicted that the Administration would propose an arms sale to the two Arab kingdoms in September.

Package Called ‘Very Divisive’

California Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo) said the arms package would be “very divisive” in Congress. If the sale goes through, he said, it would touch off a costly new arms race in the Middle East and would turn the peace process into “a total fiasco.”

Murphy insisted that no arms-sale proposal has been approved, although he said the Administration hopes to meet Jordan’s security needs to demonstrate support for Hussein’s peace initiative.

In his testimony, which covered the full range of Middle East developments, Murphy also attacked the National Council of Resistance, an Iranian group opposed to the government of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that is seeking support in Congress and from the American public.

Murphy said the group is controlled by the Moujahedeen organization, which he described as “militantly Islamic, anti-democratic, anti-American and anti-Western.” He said the group, which has tried to portray itself as a democratic opposition to Khomeini, seemed to be attracting support on Capitol Hill, and he said he wants to “strike a blow for truth in advertising.”