State Department Sees No War Danger on Israeli-jordan Frontier

HAMMARSKJOLD’S “FULL CONFIDENCE” IN COL. LEARY REITERATED

United Nations circles said tonight that there would be no change in Col. Leary’s status “for the time being.” The fact that no UN source would make an unconditional statement on Col. Leary’s position gave rise to new speculation that the Jordanians had not backed down on their original demand that he be removed. Mr. Hammarskjold came flying to the Middle East originally after Jordan authorities charged Col. Leary with favoritism toward Israel and refused to deal with him.

At a press conference tonight, Mr. Hammarskjold’s spokesman, George Ivan Smith, reiterated the Secretary General’s full confidence in Col. Leary. He drew the correspondents’ attention to one of the official communiques issued in Amman after the Jordan-Hammarskjold talks, which mentioned that Jordan wished to “maintain fullest cooperation” with the UN truce machinery, of which Col. Leary is acting head. Mr. Smith suggested the newsmen take the statement at face value.

Asked whether gasoline would be included among the items the Israeli convoy will be carrying when it next makes its way up Mt. Scopus, the spokesman replied that Mr. Hammarskjold was not responsible for the composition of the convoy and that this was the job of the UN officer in charge–the chairman of the Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission-and the inclusion or exclusion of gasoline from the convoy’s cargo was at his discretion.

The main purpose of United Nations Secretary General Dai Hammarskjold’s flying visit to the Middle East is to preserve the UN truce supervisory machinery, official sources said here.

They minimized the war danger on the Israeli-Jordan frontier, saying that Mr. Hammarskjold was mainly concerned with bolstering the truce apparatus itself.