State Dept. Names Aide to Assist Murphy in Mideast Peace Efforts

The State Department, at a crucial juncture in the Middle East peace process, announced Tuesday the appointment of a special adviser to advance the negotiation process in the troubled region.

Wat Cluverius, now serving as U.S. consul general in Jerusalem, has been appointed “to assist Assistant Secretary of State Richard Murphy in our efforts to advance the Middle East peace process,” the State Department said.

Cluverius, a career foreign service officer, is to be replaced in Jerusalem by Morris Draper, another career officer who is a former presidential envoy to the Middle East.

Department officials said Cluverius will be stationed “somewhere in the Middle East and spend a lot of time traveling.”

Since the posts are secretarial and do not involve presidential appointments, Senate confirmation is not required.

A Break in Logjam

The new post for Cluverius has been created at a time when Administration officials say they see signs that the logjam in the negotiation process is breaking. The U.S. officials point to the plan outlined by Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres during his United Nations speech last week and the statements by Jordanian officials welcoming the ideas expressed by Peres.

Both Cluverius and Draper are Middle East specialists, and both are described by colleagues and detractors as “Arabists”--foreign service officers who have served in the Middle East and understand the Arab world well.

Cluverius formerly served as U.S. ambassador to the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain and is a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, a post Draper also held.

Draper was a deputy to Mideast envoy Philip C. Habib during the 1982 negotiations that led to the withdrawal of Palestine Liberation Organization guerrillas from Lebanon.

Because of his prominent role in the negotiations, which were opposed by some radical Arab groups, it was believed that Draper would be in severe danger if he were stationed in any Arab country, and his career was placed on hold for two years, despite his rank as career minister and his receipt of the President’s Distinguished Service Award for his negotiating duties.