Eisenhower Begins Peace Mission

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29070, 5 December 1959, Page 13

Eisenhower Begins Peace Mission

(A.Z. Cress Association —Copyright)

(Rec. 10 p.m.) WASHINGTON, December 3. President Eisenhower left tonight by Boeing 707 jet airliner on an unprecedented three-continent, peace crusade designed to bolster the unity of the West and to win the support of neutral nations in advance of summit negotiations with Russia. The President spent the first night of the 19-day goodwill tour asleep over the Atlantic. He is due in Rome this afternoon.

The President left Washington after telling the nation in a television and radio broadcast that he would try to convey America’s “earnestness in striving to reduce tensions” while abroad. He said that he thought America's real message to the world was “peace and friendship, in freedom.” The President’s speech, which also said that a start on mutual disarmament was the first requirement of any effort to reduce tensions, won immediate and general support from both Democratic and Republican members of Congress. The 69-year-old President looked fit and happy as he kissed Mrs Eisenhower goodbye calling “good-night folks” to dignitaries assembled on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base, near Washington, to speed him on his journey. He relaxed immediately once airborne, changing the coat of his business suit for a checked sports

jacket, and then chatting to various members of his 21-man entourage. The President’s tour is taking him to Italy, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Persia, Greece. Tunisia, France, Spain and Morocco. In France, on December 19. 20. and 21. he will attend the Western summit meeting in Paris. He is due back home on December 22. well in time for a Christmas reunion with his family. Communist Welcome The President will receive a particularly warm welcome from the Italian Communist Party—the largest in the Western world—when he arrives in Rome on the first leg of his mission. The party's Rome branch, claiming to speak for 250,000 city workers, has plastered the capital with posters recalling the wartime comradeship of Italian partisans with United States and Soviet troops.

The posters said the country’s Communists hoped the President’s three-day visit “will contribute to achieving an end of the cold war and bring about conditions for a system of peaceful co-existence among the nations.” Strong security operations will be enforced from the moment the President's plane touches down at Rome’s Ciampinc airport. President Giovanni Gronchi. heading Italian Government Ministers, will greet Mr Eisenhower during a formal airport ceremony. Tonight, the two Presidents will have their first talk, expected to last about 90 minutes. Tomorrow, President Eisenhower will have talks with the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Antonio Segni. He will leave on Sunday morning after an audience with Pope John.

Mr Eisenhower will spend five days in India, the longest stay in any one country. He will have several opportunities for talks with the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Nehru.

. He' told his most recent press conference that he would be glad to discuss the Indian-Chinese border situation. He said the issue was not the actual border line and any differences should be settled not by force, but by negotiation.

Earlier, in the Asian part of his tour —no American President has previously visited Asia —Mr Eisenhower will have two days in Pakistan. He will see part of the Australia-Pakistan test match, in which he has expressed interest.