Wayne Owens, 65; Utah Congressman Pushed Mideast Peace

Wayne Owens, 65, a former Utah congressman who worked to foster peace in the Middle East, was found dead Wednesday in Israel, according to the State Department.

A Democrat, Owens served four terms in Congress, beginning in 1972. He later helped launch the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, a Washington D.C.-based group focused on bringing peace to the region through economic development and improving communications between policymakers.

He had been in Israel on business when his body was discovered on a beach in Tel Aviv Wednesday night. A spokesman for the State Department’s Consular Affairs Bureau said Owens apparently died of natural causes.

A native of Panguitch, Utah, Owens’ accomplishments in Congress included fighting to protect 5 million acres of Utah wilderness and legislation to compensate those who became ill from radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing in Nevada. As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he was an advocate for Middle East peace.

Owens left the House in 1992 after two unsuccessful bids for the U.S. Senate and a run for Utah governor. He spent much of the last decade meeting with Middle East leaders as president of the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation. Among the projects his group fostered was building some large water desalination plants to help the Palestinians control their own water resources.