Dates for Waldheim Trip, Resumption of Council Debate Still Not Set

No dates have been set yet for Secretary General Kurt Waldheim’s visit to the Middle East or for resumption of the Security Council’s review and general debate on the Mideast which was adjourned a month ago for the Nixon-Brezhnev summit talks. Waldheim announced through a UN spokesman Friday that he had been invited by the Egyptian government to visit the region and that the Israeli and Jordanian governments were also prepared to receive him.

A spokesman said today that there was also a possibility of a visit to Lebanon by the Secretary General. But he could not say when Waldheim would leave or how long a time he would spend in the Middle East. According to one unconfirmed report, Waldheim may not leave for “a couple of months.”

Sources said the Secretary General would have to be present for the Security Council debate when it resume. The debate, to have resumed today, was postponed “for a few days.” It was initiated by Egypt and was not likely to resume before the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohammed H. el-Zayyat returns to New York. Zayyat ended a four-day visit to Austria yesterday and flew to Paris.

There was no word either on when the Secretary General’s special representative to the Middle East, Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring, would arrive in New York. Sources said Dr. Jarring probably would come when British Ambassador Kenneth D. Jamieson. this month’s Security Council president, announces the date for resumption of the debate.

Diplomatic circles here said they did not expect Waldheim’s Middle East visit to take place before the debate but added that they did not expect the resumed sessions to last very long. Sources also mentioned the possibility that the debate might be postponed until Waldheim visits the Middle East and returns with an updated report on the situation there.

(In Washington, the State Department said today “we support” Waldheim’s trip, but did not elaborate.)