U.S. allows Shah to stay temporarily, hints at longer term

Press, 4 December 1979, Page 8

U.S. allows Shah to stay temporarily, hints at longer term

International

NZPA-Reuter Washington President Jimmy Carter gave the deposed Shi.b of Iran temporary sanctuary yesterday at an Air Force hospital in San Antonio, Texas, and left open the possibility of permanent asylum if another suitabk haven is not found abroad.

The official explanation issued by the White House was that the deposed Shah was moved from his New York hospital to Texas to allow him a secure place to

recuperate “pending further onward travel plans.” But Mr Carter, who made the decision to allow the Shah United States Government facilities for the first time since his arrival on October 22, did not rule out the possibility that the Shah might be given asylum.

Returning from a weekend at Camp David, Mr Carter was asked by a reporter, “Are you going to offer the Shah permanent exile?” “I can’t answer that now,” the President replied.

Mr Jody Powell, the White House spokesman, said later that the question of permanent status, “just hasn’t arisen.” “The Shah has continued to say he wants to leave when his medical treatment is over,” Mr Powell said. “He’s asked us to assist him in finding a permanent home.”

State Department officials said it was possible that a suitable alternative would not be found. Mexico, which had granted

: the Shah temporary status last summer, refused unexpectedly last Thursday to allow him to return. The I only other country that has ■ publicly welcomed the Shah is Egypt, but the Shah does j not want to go there, his aides have said. i Initial inquiries to other 'countries have not yet been fruitful, an official has said. He discounted the possibility of South Africa, a country that was mentioned by Senator Frank Church, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who noted that the Shah's father died there in exile in 1944. State Department officials said intensive efforts were being made to find the Shah a permanent refuge in a country other than South Africa. They would not say why that country was not’ being approached, but there was speculation that it might have to do with South Africa’s apartheid policies or the Shah’s own preference. A high official said that, given the refusal of other countries to accept the Shah, combined with his own lack of desire for going to Egypt, “We may be faced with the Flying Dutchman syndrome, and that may in the end

lead to the Shah’s staying here, even though it did *ot seem that way when we started all this.” In legend, the Flying Dutchman is a phantom ship condemned to sail forever because of a blasphemy uttered by its captain. Sources close to the Shah have insisted that the Shah actually would prefer to stay in the United States but has not asked publicly to do so out of deference to the Administration's desire to keep him out of the country for the sake of the American hostages in Iran. The continued detention of the Americans, however, has so angered Mr Carter, some aides have said, that he has rejected any appearance of forcing the Shah out. The decision to let the Shah go to the Wilford Hall Air Force Hospital at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas, was taken early on Saturday afternoon by Mr Carter after his senior advisers had discussed the matter in the morning. It was necessitated by pressure from New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Centre, which said that the Shah should be moved now that his essential medical treatment was over.