M.E. Prisoner Exchange

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31576, 13 January 1968, Page 15

M.E. Prisoner Exchange

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) JERUSALEM, January 12. After a month of commuting between the capitals of the Middle East, Gunnar V. Jarring, the United Nations Secretary-General special envoy to the area, has opened a few small cracks in the Arab-Israeli impasse, the “New York Times” News Service reports.

Largely as a result of his unobtrusive diplomacy, Israel and the United Arab Republic have now agreed to carry out their long-delayed exchange of prisoners of war. In addition, the United Nations envoy, who is the Swedish Ambassador to the Soviet Union, has laid the groundwork for the peaceful extrication of the ships trapped in the Suez Canal. There is still some bickering on this issue, but reliable sources say it is likely that a working agreement will be reached shortly. Though neither of the achievements will bring about peace in the area, they nonetheless represent more success than most observers had predicted for Mr Jarring when he began his mission in midDecember. Using Cyprus as a neutral

base, he has made three circuits of the area, including calls at Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and the U.A.R. Syria has not been included in his itinerary as the Syrians rejected from the beginning the United Nations resolution that provided Mr Jarring with his mandate. There is no evidence that the envoy has made any progress on the central issue of peace negotiations and neither side has perceptibly altered its stand.