EFFECT AT GENEVA

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28911, 3 June 1959, Page 15

EFFECT AT GENEVA

’Blow To I K. Prestige”

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11 p.m.) GENEVA, June 2. Officials at Geneva today declined to comment on the report in “The Times” that Mr< Selwyn Lloyd is to be replaced as Foreign Minister, but the report was the main talking point among delegations to the Big Four Foreign Ministers’ conference.

The British delegation refused any comment, but British sources said there was no question of Mr Lloyd being relieved of his post. British United Press said the report came as a shock in conference circles. The suggestions led to speculation whether it could possibly presage a switch in British policy. Some people at the conference believed that Mr Lloyd’s prestige at the conference table had suffered a severe blow because of the report, and, with it, Britain’s role at the conference, British United Press said.

Officially, members of the other delegations at Geneva maintained a studied silence, the agency said. United States officials indicated a firm desire to steer clear of the whole affair. West Germany officials emphasised their Government’s satisfaction with Mr Lloyd’s stand at Geneva. Denial by Adenauer From Bonn. British United Press reported that the* West German Chancellor, Dr. Adenauer, today denied a report that he had complained to President Eisenhower about the stand taken by Mr Lloyd at the Foreign Ministers’ conference. Dr. Adenauer said that when in Washington last week, he told President Eisenhower that the position taken by Mr Lloyd at Geneva was excellent. Mr Lloyd, though frequently criticised during his four-year tenure of the Foreign Office, is looked upon as well equipped among the leaders of the Western Alliance for the whole process of negotiations leading up to the summit. His visit to Moscow in February with Mr Macmillan, and his subsequent trips to Western capitals have given him a background possessed by no other Western Foreign Minister. Since the Moscow visit, he has established a working relationship with Mr Gromyko enjoyed by none of his Western colleagues. Though he has not engaged in any bilateral negotiations with Mr .Gromyko while in he has had several individual rffeetings with him which Western officials have described as most valuable.

N.Z. Players Win At Manchester (N.Z. Press Assoctation—Copyrighti LONDON, June 1. Two New Zealanders scored wins in the first rounds of the Northern tennis championships at Manchester, today. M. Otway beat M. Sagar (Yorkshire) 8-0, 8-1, and L. A. Gerrard beat D. H. Shaw (Lancashire) 6-8. 6-2. 6-2.