Reagan Expected to Drop Plan for F-15s to Saudis, Additional Arms to Jordan

The Reagan Administration, seeking to ease passage of an arms package for Saudi Arabia, is expected to drop its request for the sale of 40 F-15 combat aircraft to the Saudis and additional arms for Jordan, congressional sources said Monday.

But even that tactical move, designed to deflect congressional criticism of the arms package for Saudi Arabia, met with early opposition. Four key senators--two Democrats and two Republicans--began a campaign Monday to block the remainder of the sale, which includes helicopters, armored vehicles, anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons for the Saudis.

In a letter to their colleagues, Sens. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), Bob Packwood (R-Ore.), Alan J. Dixon (D-Ill.) and Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.) said the proposed sale would “fuel the regional arms competition” and erode Israel’s military superiority in the area.

Administration officials said last week that President Reagan planned to propose selling arms both to Saudi Arabia and Jordan. But an aide to Cranston said Monday that senators have been told that the Jordanian part of the package will be held back.

Congressional sources added that they understand that the F-15s for Saudi Arabia also have been dropped, although it is possible that the Administration may seek to revive the sale of the planes later, they said.

‘Overload the Circuits’

“Every indication we have gotten from senior officials at the State Department, DOD (the Department of Defense) and elsewhere is that they have separated (the package) because they don’t want to overload the circuits,” the Cranston aide said.

In their letter, the four senators anticipated a proposed sale to Saudi Arabia as a precursor of a later package for Jordan.

“If Congress acquiesces in this unwise initiative, we can anticipate another sale--of fighter aircraft to Jordan--then perhaps still another sale, of 40 more F-15s to the Saudis, this year,” the letter said.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz is known to be anxious to obtain approval of an arms package for Jordan to demonstrate U.S. support for King Hussein’s plan for a joint Jordanian-Palestine Liberation Organization approach to negotiating a peace agreement with Israel.

Shultz is also known to believe that Hussein is willing to engage in direct peace talks with the Israelis--but only if he receives visible backing from the United States and his fellow Arab chiefs of state.

Israeli leaders have said they oppose Hussein’s pact with the PLO and are unwilling to engage in any negotiations in which Palestinians associated with the PLO take part.

And although Israeli officials have said they are prepared to talk to Hussein and to Palestinians who have no links to the PLO, the Jordanian monarch has said he is unwilling to proceed on that basis. A Palestinian delegation without PLO backing, he argues, would have no credibility with the vast majority of Palestinians or with other Arab governments.

Warning to Administration

There is very little enthusiasm in Congress for the Jordanian-PLO peace initiative, and congressional leaders, including some who usually support the President, have warned the Administration that the lawmakers are unlikely to approve an arms package for Jordan. Substantial opposition to a Saudi Arabian weapons sale also has been announced.

In their letter, Cranston, Packwood, Dixon and D’Amato recalled that last January, 64 senators--well over half the Senate membership--signed a letter urging Reagan to abandon plans to sell Stinger, Sidewinder and Maverick missiles, armored vehicles, helicopters and fighter aircraft to the Saudis.

The Administration did not submit a Saudi arms package at that time. Instead, it ordered a comprehensive study of the Middle East arms balance and, pending the outcome of the study, froze all arms sales to the region.

According to congressional sources who have seen the still-secret study, completed in July, it recommends additional arms sales to both Saudi Arabia and Jordan. But the four senators said they are no less opposed to selling arms to Saudi Arabia now than they were in January.

“Saudi Arabia is still bankrolling the PLO and Syria--the protectors of terrorists who have murdered hundreds of Americans and torn Lebanon asunder,” they said. “Saudi Arabia has frustrated the fitful efforts of King Hussein to move forward in the peace process with Israel. Specifically, the Saudis have worked to undermine Hussein’s initiative in pan-Arab conferences and have given his efforts no public support.”