Shultz Plans to Return to Middle East

President Reagan today announced that Secretary of State George P. Shultz will return to the Middle East on Thursday to continue his shuttle diplomacy.

Reagan told reporters at the Stuyvenberg guest house where he is staying during a NATO summit that “all countries believe the United States should remain engaged” in the effort to bring about an Arab-Israeli reconciliation and an end to the Palestinian uprising in the Israeli-occupied territories.

“We will spare no effort,” he said.

When asked after his announcement whether Shultz would meet with Palestinian representatives, Reagan raised his arms and shrugged. Shultz, standing next to Reagan, gave no response.

The missing element in the recent Shultz shuttle was direct talks with the Palestinians, who refused to meet with him in East Jerusalem. In Cairo, the Middle East News Agency quoted diplomatic sources Tuesday as saying that Shultz may meet with a group of Palestinians, approved by Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, during a second visit to Egypt.

No Hint of Optimism

Neither Reagan nor Shultz gave any strong indication that hopes were rising for a breakthrough when they announced the extension of the secretary’s mission.

Reagan said he kept in “close touch” with developments while Shultz was on his mission, which was initiated after Palestinians in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip began violent protests against Israeli military rule.

Asked why Shultz had broken off his mission to come to Brussels for the meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state, Reagan said, “He came back here temporarily to participate” in the Atlantic Alliance talks and to report on “what was going on there” in the Middle East.

Shultz was expected to depart for Jerusalem after a news conference Thursday at the end of the NATO council meeting. He began his shuttle diplomacy on Feb. 19 and is expected to spend another 2 1/2 days in the Middle East on his new round of talks, going back to Israel, Jordan and Egypt, but not Syria.

Shultz held three hours of talks Tuesday with Jordan’s King Hussein in London, where the king was undergoing dental treatment. (Story, Page 8).

U.S. and Jordanian officials told reporters that the meeting brought no surprises, but also no agreement.

But that standoff was enough, apparently, to convince Shultz that another shuttle was worth the risk--a process that will continue with a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir on March 16.