Security Council action on a Syrian complaint against Israel over the Bnot Yaakov power development in the Jordan Valley was postponed tonight until next Tuesday after a hectic day of discussion and procedures which the Council chairman, M. Kyrou, of Greece, described as without precedent in the history of the Council.
Most of the fireworks took place behind the scenes as the Arab delegations, which had stalled and delayed Council action on the case for weeks, suddenly reversed their tactics and sought an urgent decision by the Council rather than let the issue ride until next month when Pakistan, Greece and Colombia leave the 11-member body and are replaced by New Zealand, Turkey and Brazil.
The new direction became evident during the morning session when, after the Syrian delegate had proclaimed the amended three-power resolution unacceptable to his Government and had denounced the three Western powers, Israel and the Zionist movement, the chairman announced an adjournment until the afternoon to permit consultations on amendments to the three-power draft which, he said he was informed, would make that resolution acceptable to many of the delegations.
When the afternoon session was convened, Mr. Kyrou said he was informed some progress had been made but it had not yet reached the point of agreement. He said the Council could either vote today on the two resolutions before it (the three-power draft and the Lebanese resolution) or postpone consideration of the issue.
MALIK SAYS AGREEMENT “JUST AROUND CORNER”
The Colombian delegate then proposed a postponement until January 11 because of the difficulty for delegates to consult their governments during the holiday period. The Soviet delegate said he had no objection to this proposal. The French delegate thought the time was “too long” and proposed adjournment until no later than January 4.
Dr. Charles Malik of The Lebanon pleaded with the Council for “another try” and after Henri Hoppenot of France and Andrei Y. Vishinski of the Soviet Union supported him, the session was recessed for a half-hour to permit further negotiations.
When the session resumed, Dr. Malik reported that the recess had been “eminently successful” and proclaimed that agreement on an amended draft resolution was “just around the corner.” After more discussion, a further half-hour recess was announced.
When this recess ended, Dr. Malik reported to the chair that “things have narrowed down to a very clear-cut point.” He said agreement had been reached on a
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