Arab Newspapers See Little Chance of Big 4 Success; Israelis Maintain Opposition

Most Arab newspapers in Beirut this weekend said the Four Power talks which opened Thursday were not likely to bear fruit. The feeling was shared by Beirut and Cairo papers that the Four Power meetings will almost certainly be the last chance for a political solution, it was reported here. The Israelis continue to maintain their opposition to the talks and to insist that genuine peace can only come about from direct Arab-Israel negotiations.

The prospects for a solution of the Mideast deadlock drew mixed responses of optimism and pessimism from various diplomatic observers here. One of the participants confirmed that the first day’s talk produced a “surprising amount of headway.” Noting that the initial results should not be exaggerated, he said that the diplomats of the United States, France, Russia and Britain had cleared away “quite a few obstacles on procedure.”

The four will confer again Tuesday, possibly at the Soviet UN Mission or the residence of Soviet Ambassador Yakov A. Malik. The other participants are Charles W. Yost of the U.S., Lord Caradon of Britain and Armand Berard of France at whose residence the first session was held. Following their meeting, they issued a communique which said: “The Four Powers are agreed that the situation in the Middle East is serious and urgent and must not be permitted to jeopardize international peace and security. They have straightaway entered into a discussion on matters of substance and have started defining areas of agreement. There is common concern to make urgent progress.” The envoys said that in their consultations on a “peaceful political settlement” they firmly supported the Mideast peace mission of UN envoy Dr. Gunnar V. Jarring.