How America got rid of an unwelcome guest

Press, 26 December 1979, Page 10

How America got rid of an unwelcome guest

By

HAROLD JACKSON

in Washington for the

"Guardian,” London

High-pressure diplomacy by the White House and a neat bit of political opportunism by General Omar Torrijos, the former Panamanian strongman, lay behind the Shah’s transfer this month from the high security of the Lackland Air Force base in Texas to the equally tight little island of Contadora, off Panama. The wheels started spinning when the Mexican Government made its totally unexpected announcement that it would not allow the former ruler to resume his exile on its soil. The Panamanians had been among the first to offer refuge after his flight from Teheran. But the Shah has shown himself to be remarkably fussy about where he settles down and he turned down the proposal. He repeated his refusal just after his transfer from the Cornell Medical Centre in New York to Texas but the growing embarrassment of his presence and the long list of countries approached unsuccessfully by the State Department led to some rapid re-examination of the offers on the table. The prime one was from President Sadat of Egypt and there was the additional factor that the Shah had already spent time there

immediately after his flight. But, the more the Americans studied the implications, the more horrific seemed the likely effect on the whole painfully constructed edifice of the Middle East peace negotiations. There were other offers — Fiji and Tonga were believed to be in the act at one stage — but the focus narrowed rapidly on Panama. Not least of the reasons from the Shah’s point of view was that the currency is the United States dollar which, for all its travails on the international exchange markets, offers a little greater security than less familiar units of exchange. There is little doubt that he would have preferred to stay in the United States and that much of his energy — not to mention that of his friends — has been bent to that end in the 11 months since his downfall. Whether that, would ever have been a realistic proposition it has certainly been ruled out by the last two months of diplomatic frenzy. Early this month the White House started soundings with the Panamanians, to see if the offer still stood. It did and the President’s Chief of Staff, Mr Hamilton Jordan, flew secretly to Panama City. He had the great advantage

of being personally friendly with General Torrijos who, though now retired as head of State, is still a considerable power in the land. Relations between the United States and Panama have been undergoing some strain in recent months, mainly because of the intense politicking which has surrounded the Panama Cana! treaties in the American House of Representatives. President Carter’s decision to hand back the canal met with enormous domestic opposition and this fight has continued as a rearguard action. The formal handover of control was due on October 1, but 10 days before that, the House defeated the bill necessary to complete the arrangements. There was enormous acrimony. with allegations about the Torrijos family’s activities flying in all directions and, though the bill was eventually passed six days later and the ceremonies went ahead as planned, it has left a very sour note over the proceedings. In spite of this background. General Torrijos seems to have placed no conditions on his offer to the Shah, and the White House has resolutely denied that there was any quid pro quo in the deal.

Mr Jordan departed for Kelly Air Force base in Texas to bear the news to the Shah. He was joined there by the White House counsel, Mr Lloyd Cutler, and the two men had a three-hour conversation with the former ruler. No details have emerged of what was said, but the very length of the talks suggests that the news was greeted with something less than wholehearted enthusiasm. There seem to have been some fairly robust home truths pointed out by the Americans and, after about an hour’s separate consultation with his wife and other members of his entourage, the Shah told Jordan and Cutler that he agreed in

principle to the move. One of his stipluations, however, was that he should not be treated as a refugee, but should receive a personal invitation from Panama to be its guest. Just how Mi Jordan reacted to this piece of refined protocol is not recorded. but he did grind his way back to Panama along with the Shah’s head of security. There they inspected the arrangement on Contadora Island. General Torrijos seems to have been sufficiently attuned to the emotional heeds of former dictators to write out in his own hand an invitation to the Shah which was duly transported back to Texas by Mr Jordan. Then came one of those

idiotic hitches which always seem to bedevil great affairs of state — the Shah was subpoenaed by two former employees of the Bel! Helicopter Company who wanted him to give evidence in a case they have brought for wrongful dismissal. His relevance to the case seemed pretty marginal and it had all the air of one of those moves by smart lawyers, but the court in Fort Worth ordered him to give a deposition in his quarters at the air base to a court reporter. The Shah’s lawyer immediately filed a deposition saying that the Shah was too ill to fulfil the order and that his doctors had ruled that it could endanger his health. Two New York doctors flew into Lackland, ostensibly to back up this contention. In reality, their job was to examine him to ensure that he was in fit condition for the flight to Panama. A few moments before his departure he had a telephone call from President Carter wishing him well and. amid massive security precautions, his C. 9 military transport aircraft took off for Panama. The Americans had finally lost their unwelcome guest, the Shah had found a refuge, and the Panamanians had done the United States the sort of favour that must, surely bring its own rewards here on earth.