U Thant Calls on Big Four to Aid Mideast Peace; Urges Arabs, Israelis to Compromise

Secretary General U Thant, contending that the Middle East war has reached a stalemate that “seriously threatens the peace of the world,” has called for greater Two Power and Four Power peace efforts followed by “an international consensus on the vital issues.” Mr. Thant, addressing the annual luncheon of the UN Correspondents Association, said Thursday that all UN efforts to ameliorate the crisis “have been unavailing thus far,” and that since “there has been no evidence that the issues of the Middle East conflict can be settled by the parties through their own efforts,” international aid “should be increased and intensified.” The Four Powers, Mr. Thant said, “will have to do much more than they have been able to do thus far in support of and in carrying out (cease-fire) Resolution 242 of November, 1967, and in helping Ambassador (Gunnar V.) Jarring’s efforts.” Mr. Thant will meet in Moscow June 14 with Dr. Jarring, who is formally Swedish ambassador to the Soviet Union. In his plea to the Arabs and the Israelis to compromise their “hardened” positions, Mr. Thant reasserted the thrust of the cease-fire resolution: “the inherent right of a state to be free of military occupation of its territory, on the one hand, and the entirely legitimate demands for the right of a state to exist behind secure boundaries, on the other.” Mr. Thant stated that “the provision of arms which are clearly and primarily for use in offensive actions, can serve only to intensify the war and impede progress toward peace.” He declined to differentiate between Soviet aid to Egypt and U.S. aid to Israel.