Say Nasser Pursuing Tough Line on Resumption of Relations with United States

The Nixon Administration is exploring quietly the chances of improved relations with Egypt, but the Nasser regime has imposed conditions involving Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territories that Washington is reluctant to accept, it was learned here today. A Cairo newspaper meanwhile has accused the United States of aiding Israeli reprisal actions against Arab guerrillas.

A reliable diplomatic source said that Cairo wants the U.S. to apply pressure on Israel, either within or outside an imposed settlement, to roll back its troops from the Suez Canal. One official said that “Nasser has been raising the ante with the U.S. every week” in setting forth his position on renewed relations. Egypt broke diplomatic ties with Washington during the Six-Day War.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Anderson, in Cairo on a trouble-shooting mission for President Nixon, is trying to assess the attitude of the Nasser Government on the possibility of sending a top official to Washington to meet with the President. King Hussein of Jordan, who arrived in Cairo yesterday for two days of consultations with President Nasser, will visit Washington next month for talks with President Nixon. Mr. Anderson has had a lengthy meeting with Egyptian Economic Minister Hassan Abbas Zaki on the possibility of increasing trade. He saw Hussein today.

The Cairo newspaper Al Gumhourea charged the U.S. Defense Department with “interfering openly” against the Arabs by allegedly helping Israel plan and execute reprisal actions. The newspaper said yesterday’s Israeli air strikes against guerrilla camps in Jordan opened a “new era in the escalating Israeli terrorist measures against the Arab countries.” It called “suspicious” the recent visit of Gen, Theodore Conway, commander of the U.S. Army strike command, to Israel.

The semi-official Cairo newspaper Al Ahram denied reports that Egypt was hoping for an “imposed” solution of the Middle East crisis by the Big Four powers. But the artillery duels initiated by Egypt across the Suez Canal last week and the mounting war fever, abetted by statements by government officials and the Egyptian press, were seen by observers here as intended to persuade the Big Four that urgent measures must be taken to avoid a new Middle East explosion.