Shultz Has His First Mideast Shuttle Success--in Egypt

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, registering the first success of his Middle East shuttle, said Sunday that President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt agrees that the new U.S. peace package is a “promising” one.

With Egyptian Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid standing at his side after a three-hour meeting with Mubarak, Shultz said, “I think I can say we both feel we have a package that is promising.”

Possibly recalling the skepticism he encountered earlier from Israeli, Jordanian, Syrian and Palestinian leaders, Shultz added with a rueful chuckle, “At least we think it’s promising--whether anybody else will think it’s promising is the question.”

Egyptian Endorsement

Meguid stood silently while Shultz made his comments. U.S. officials said later, however, that Egypt fully endorsed Shultz’s assessment.

Shultz was preaching to the choir in Egypt. Although the government-controlled press recently has complained that the U.S. initiative does not go far enough, Mubarak is so closely associated with the plan that one U.S. official called him a “consulting architect” of the American package.

Recalling Mubarak’s visit to Washington last month, Shultz said: “President Mubarak urged the President (Reagan) to send me on a mission to the Middle East. We have taken his advice.”

Confers With Shamir, Peres

Earlier in the day, Shultz conferred separately in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Spokesmen for both men said later that their positions were unchanged as a result of the talks. Peres generally supports the U.S. initiative, but Shamir opposes important parts of it.

Shultz spends every night of his Middle East shuttle in Jerusalem, traveling to Arab capitals during the day. He is scheduled to visit Amman today for a second round of talks with Jordanian officials. However, King Hussein, the only person who can make binding decisions in the Hashemite kingdom, is in London where the palace says he is having his teeth fixed. Shultz plans to stop in Britain on Tuesday to confer with the monarch.

In his public statements since he began his current campaign, Shultz has referred to the U.S. plan as a “package,” carefully balanced to be fair to all sides.

Seeks ‘Comprehensive’ Peace

He said it aims at a “comprehensive” peace which would include all of the region’s antagonists. That is the formula publicly advocated by all of the Arab parties. Israel, for its part, prefers a step-by-step approach in which the Jerusalem government would make peace with one Arab country at a time. That process began with the Israel-Egypt peace treaty in 1979, but it has not recorded its second success.

“What we are seeking is a comprehensive peace in the Middle East,” Shultz said Sunday. “That means that we have to consider all of the countries involved. We have to consider security issues. We have to consider the Palestinian people, their aspirations and their legitimate rights.”

Although U.S. policy has long maintained that Palestinians must be included in any settlement, Shultz has placed much more stress on the Palestinian question during this shuttle than U.S. officials have done in the recent past.

Leaves Israelis Nervous

The approach appears to be making many Israeli leaders nervous. The Israeli press was rife with rumors Sunday that Shultz would confer in Cairo with a delegation selected by the Palestine Liberation Organization. No such meeting took place.

However, Yossi Ben-Haron, director general of Shamir’s office, found it necessary to try to reassure Israelis that Shultz is “not moving toward a meeting with the PLO.”

U.S. officials said Shultz is anxious to meet Palestinian leaders but that the meeting must be held in Jerusalem, not some Arab capital. The officials added that Shultz would not talk to PLO officials.

Fifteen Palestinians, handpicked by the U.S. Embassy for their moderate views, refused Shultz’s invitation to talk last Friday because of opposition from the PLO.

No Dealings With PLO

The United States promised Israel in 1975 that it would have no dealings with the PLO unless the organization renounced terrorism and recognized Israel’s right to exist. The ban on contacts with the PLO was hardened into law by Congress in 1986.

A U.S. official said Egypt has been “helpful” in trying to arrange a meeting between Shultz and Palestinians.

Shultz has said that the search for peace has taken on a new urgency as a result of the 11-week-old Palestinian uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. At least 74 Palestinians have died in the violence, and hundreds have been wounded, some of them by Israeli soldiers who intentionally broke arms and legs with clubs and rocks.

International Standing Hurt

Although a senior adviser to Shamir insisted that Israel will refuse to negotiate under pressure from West Bank and Gaza disturbances, the continuing unrest has taken a toll on Israel’s international standing.

Morris B. Abram, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who once staunchly defended Israel’s policy in the occupied territories, arrived in Jerusalem at the head of a delegation that is urging Shamir to put an end to brutality.

“I tell him (Shamir) that the American Jewish community is in anguish,” Abram told a Sunday press conference. The situation “cannot continue,” he said.