Shultz Mid-East Trip Reflects Priority of Troop Withdrawal

WASHINGTON--The trip by Secretary at State George P. Shultz to the Middle East reflects a judgment by the Reagan Administration that agreement on a troop withdrawal from Lebanon is the key to progress on an overall Middle East peace.

The Administration had been reluctant to tie the two issues so closely together because it might encourage Israel to stand pat in Lebanon, knowing it could threaten its control of the occupied West Bank and Gaza trip.

But Arab leaders, such as President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Jordan's King Husein, have made clear to the Administration that Reagan's Middle East peace initiative is now virtually dead without prior agreement on a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon.

Reagan decided Friday to send Shultz to the region to make a final push for an accord for Israel to withdraw its 25,000 troops from Lebanon, after which he will try to get a withdrawal of Syrian and Palestine Liberation Organization forces.

Shultz planned to leave late last night for Cairo. He also will visit Lebanon and Israel, and may engage in shuttle-type diplomacy, if necessary, to get the final agreement. He might also visit Syria.

The secretary was known to be reluctant to go on the trip.