News stories from Saturday June 26, 1982
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- George P. Shultz, Secretary of State-designate, and President Reagan met at Camp David. After the meeting Mr. Shultz said that he saw his new role as an opportunity "to advance the causes of peace, freedom and justice in a world so troubled and so anxious to hope for a good future." He told reporters that he was "truly surprised" by the sudden resignation of Alexander Haig. [New York Times]
- Mr. Haig was told Friday that his resignation as Secretary of State, tendered to the President the day before, had been accepted. A working lunch of the National Security Council had just adjourned in the cabinet room of the White House when President Reagan asked to see him for a moment. It was then that a stunned Mr. Haig learned that his offer to resign had been accepted. [New York Times]
- Mr. Haig's departure was viewed with trepidation by many officials and commentators in Western Europe, who regarded him as their chief supporter and the leading moderate in the Reagan administration. The reaction was quite different in Arab countries, where Mr. Haig was viewed as being responsible for American support of Israel's invasion of Lebanon. [New York Times]
- Curtailing scheduled 1983 tax cuts was urged by the Democratic Party at a meeting in Philadelphia as a way to finance a $7.5 billion jobs program to rebuild the nation's public works. The proposal would limit the 1983 tax cut to $700 per taxpayer. [New York Times]
- Edwin P. Wilson's arrest by federal agents in New York June 15 was the final act in an international drama that began last July. Played out on three continents, with dozens of participants, many unwittingly involved, the effort to apprehend Mr. Wilson, a former American intelligence agent accused of illegally aiding Libyan terrorists, was one of the most unorthodox manhunts ever conducted by the Justice Department, according to department officials. Mr. Wilson's attorney has questioned the legality of the way his client was captured. [New York Times]
- The use of cocaine by National Football League players has become so widespread that it is now a possible threat to the game's integrity, the league said. [New York Times]
- The U.S. vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding a limited withdrawal by Israeli and Palestine Liberation Organization forces from Beirut. The 14 other members of the Council voted for the withdrawal, which is part of a proposal by France that would have placed United Nations observers between the two sides as a symbolic buffer. The American delegate, Charles Lichenstein, said Washington voted against the proposal because "it did not eliminate from Beirut and elsewhere the presence of armed Palestinian elements." [New York Times]
- Beirut began burying its dead as the latest cease-fire followed Israel's fierce bombardment Friday. The dead are being buried in mass graves because of the scarcity individual plots in crowded cemeteries. [New York Times]
- The new cease-fire held fast in Lebanon between Israel and Palestinian and Syrian forces. It went into effect at 9 P.M. Friday local time. In the meanwhile, Lebanese government officials and P.L.O. leaders considered a new set of American proposals for ending the war. [New York Times]