Navy to Stay in Gulf, Reagan Tells Mubarak

President Reagan assured Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday that the United States will not withdraw its naval forces from the Persian Gulf as long as the Iran-Iraq War continues to endanger merchant shipping.

A senior Administration official said that Reagan replied, “We are not withdrawing” when Mubarak, who visited the Arab states of the gulf region earlier this month, told him that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Arab nations are afraid Washington will pull out its warships and leave the nations at the mercy of Iran.

Reagan and Mubarak also agreed that it is vitally important to rejuvenate the Arab-Israeli peace process, but they differed sharply about the causes of the current stalemate and the way to go about breaking it, the official said.

‘The Futile War’

In remarks at a public welcoming ceremony at the White House, Mubarak, who is on a four-day visit to the United States, praised U.S. efforts to end “the futile war which is raging in the gulf.” In a later meeting with Reagan, the senior U.S. official said, Mubarak said that Egypt and its Arab neighbors want the United States to continue protecting U.S.-registered shipping from Iranian attacks.

The official said Reagan replied that although the United States has withdrawn some of its forces from the gulf, it is committed to maintain there “the ships needed to carry out the mission.”

The official described the exchange over the deadlocked Arab-Israeli peace process as “animated” and “frank,” diplomatic code words that often indicate a dispute. But the official added, rejecting a phrase suggested by a reporter, that “ ‘shouting match’ is the wrong color, absolutely.”

Mubarak has said that he wants the United States to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir into attending an international peace conference. Shamir has rejected such a conference because the Soviet Union would attend and because it might increase pressure on Israel to yield territories it has occupied since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. The Administration, while saying it supports a conference, has been unwilling to demand Israeli participation.

‘Very Honest’ Discussion

The official said the talks were marked by “a very honest setting forth of the difficulties” and that the two leaders “had a lot of problems.”

Reagan, in his statement at the welcoming ceremony, said the latest disturbances in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip demonstrate “the danger of allowing the Palestinian problem to fester.” He said the situation demands “practical, not merely rhetorical, steps.”

For his part, Mubarak blamed the unrest on “the continuation of occupation and oppression.” He said the violent confrontations between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli troops “deal a devastating blow to our peace efforts at a time when we are looking for a breakthrough.”

No Significant Progress

Despite the rhetoric, the senior U.S. official said, no significant progress was made during the visit, Mubarak’s first to the United States in 2 1/2 years.

Mubarak told Reagan that Egypt, the only Arab nation to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, is determined to serve as a channel of communications between Israel and the Arab world, the official said.

The Egyptian president said that other Arabs have urged him to withdraw the Egyptian ambassador from Israel to protest the shooting deaths of Palestinian demonstrators by Israeli troops. According to the U.S. official, Mubarak said he has decided to keep the ambassado1914726766with Israel and to be very frank in his exchanges with Israel.”

Five-Point Peace Plan

Mubarak brought with him a five-point peace plan calling for a six-month truce in the West Bank and Gaza confrontations, a six-month moratorium on new Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, a guarantee of fundamental political rights for West Bank and Gaza Palestinians, protection of the Palestinian population by “appropriate international measures” and movement toward an international peace conference.

Reagan endorsed the proposed six-month cooling-off period. But the senior official said that Reagan and Mubarak did not discuss the rest of the proposal in detail.