Shultz Winds Up Trip, Praises Hussein

Secretary of State George P. Shultz ended his latest Middle East shuttle today with praise for Jordan’s King Hussein and a promise to return to the region in a few weeks to continue his effort to bring Israel and its Arab adversaries to the negotiating table.

“Our goal remains unchanged--a comprehensive peace that brings greater security to all and meets the needs of the Palestinian people,” Shultz told a press conference in Amman shortly before he began his return trip to Washington.

But he said he would return to the region to continue the effort because he and President Reagan have decided “that I ought to be the special envoy” to handle the initiative.

Shultz conceded that progress so far has been measured in inches, but he insisted that the initiative was not “fated to failure.”

‘Stakes Very High’

“I think the stakes are very high and the opportunities are very great, even if the probabilities are against you.”

Shultz said Hussein and his aides “have engaged seriously with us in our quest for peace in the region.”

Earlier, Shultz said the monarch has shown himself to be “a possible partner in negotiation” with Israel despite continuing public skepticism of the initiative.

Shultz conferred Thursday night with Hussein over dinner at the Nadwa Palace after returning from a trip to Saudi Arabia, where he said he obtained a qualified endorsement of his effort from King Fahd.

By citing Hussein as a possible participant in the peace talks, Shultz apparently sought to apply subtle pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who maintains he is ready to open direct negotiations at any time but has been unable to find an Arab leader willing to talk.

“King Hussein has engaged himself in this process by addressing the issues in our initiative. . . . I think that is constructive,” Shultz told a news conference in Buraydah, Saudi Arabia.

A ‘Possible Partner’

“I think the message of that to Israel is that here is a possible Arab partner in negotiations,” Shultz said. “It remains to be seen whether that can evolve, but that is the message.”

He added: “Others obviously are engaged too, and in varying degrees of fundamental acceptance of all elements of our proposals. Both Prime Minister Shamir and (Israeli) Foreign Minister (Shimon) Peres have engaged with us in constructive discussions about elements of our initiative, although it certainly is the case that the prime minister has reservations, particularly about the international conference.”

Shamir and his right-wing Likud Bloc oppose key elements of the Shultz plan. Peres and his centrist Labor Alignment have indicated approval of the plan, at least as a basis for negotiations. The Israeli coalition Cabinet, split evenly between Likud and Labor, has not taken a formal stand on the issue.

Both Israel and Jordan have been waiting for the other to act first on the Shultz initiative. Neither country wants to anger Washington by rejecting it outright--but neither wants to pay the political price of accepting it if the other is going to turn it down.

Support From Fahd

Shultz traveled to Buraydah, northwest of Riyadh, to confer with Fahd. The secretary of state described his meeting with the Saudi monarch as “very worthwhile from my standpoint.”

“Here I found a great measure of support and engagement,” Shultz said. “King Fahd welcomes the initiative we have taken and is following it with great interest.”

American officials said the United States hopes Saudi Arabia will use its influence to persuade other Arab countries to go along with the Shultz plan. These officials said Saudi Arabia probably would not be asked to attend the international conference, which Shultz is proposing as a forum to launch direct negotiations between Israel and a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, or with Syria or Lebanon.

Shultz said he also discussed with Fahd the U.S. objections to Saudi Arabia’s acquisition of Chinese-made surface-to-surface ballistic missiles capable of hitting any target in the Middle East.

“The discussion was a satisfactory one, but I don’t want to go into further detail,” Shultz said cryptically.

A senior State Department official said later that the issue has not been resolved. “Satisfactory means it’s still in process, with discussions going on,” the official, who declined to be identified by name, said. “We’re still discussing the situation.”

The official said the Saudis repeated their assurance that they will not obtain nuclear warheads for the missiles, which are capable of carrying either nuclear or conventional explosives.

Nevertheless, the official said the Saudi acquisition of the missiles “has added one more threat in the region.” He said Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel all have similar missile capabilities.

The Shultz-Fahd visit came at an awkward time in U.S.-Saudi relations because Saudi Arabia recently asked Washington to withdraw the U.S. ambassador, Hume A. Horan. Horan, a veteran diplomat with wide experience in the Arab world, had been ambassador just since September.

Although the Saudis sent him packing shortly after he delivered a note protesting the Chinese missile sale, U.S. officials have said the reason was a personality conflict and not the missile dispute.

Shultz also said he had a “constructive” discussion with Fahd over the situation in Lebanon, where the United States and Syria are trying to mediate an end to that country’s bloody civil war. Shultz conferred earlier in the week with Syrian President Hafez Assad.