Middle East Thaw?

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31728, 11 July 1968, Page 16

Middle East Thaw?

Among the proposals embodied in the United Nations Security Council’s resolution of last November urging a Middle East settlement was one requiring “ respect for, and acknowledgement of, the “ sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political inde- “ pendence of every State in the area, and their right “ to live in peace within secure and recognised bound- “ aries, free from threats or acts of force ”. Recognition of the permanence of Israel as an independent sovereign State has been consistently opposed by the Arabs both before and since the dramatically brief war of 13 months ago, and no doubt accounts for the refusal of the Arab Governments, notably that of Egypt, to meet the victors for direct talks on peace terms. If that barrier can be broken down, prospects for a permanent settlement will be greatly strengthened. President Nasser’s visit to Moscow to meet the Russian leaders, and his acceptance of an invitation to call on President Tito in Jugoslavia before returning to Cairo, suggest that a mood of compromise may be developing. The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mr Mahmoud Riad, on his way to join President Nasser in Moscow, was reported as saying in Copenhagen that rails for the wiping out of Israel had been stopped since the six-day war. “ We accept the realities—and “ one of them is Israel. We only want peace now ’’. In spite of subsequent allegations that Mr Riad’s statement was misreported and distorted, the disavowals by President Nasser and other Egyptian spokesmen were oddly equivocal. Their reservations, seemingly unnecessary in the circumstances, lend some substance to the belief that Mr Riad’s definition of Egyptian policy was not so much false as premature. If he did indeed forecast the emergence of a more realistic Arab policy, acceptable peace terms, worked out in direct Arab-Israeli talks or through the United Nations envoy, Dr Gunnar Jarring, should be attainable within a reasonable time. But until more is known of what happened in Moscow, hopes must remain qualified.