Western diplomatic sources indicated here today that a Four Power conference on the Middle East crisis would be “impractical” and any move by the United States and the Soviet Union to impose a peace settlement on the area would be “inconceivable.” France has been lobbying strenuously for a Four Power parley in which it would participate along with the U.S., Russia and Britain. The USSR has been sounding out the U.S. on a plan of its own which would be guaranteed by the Four Powers in their capacity as permanent members of the Security Council. Diplomats here say the U.S. is cool to the Big Power proposal and Britain is reserved.” Both countries believe however that as members of the Security Council, the Big Powers should help speed a Middle East settlement.
Diplomatic sources said that an attempt to impose a peace settlement worked out jointly by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. would not work and might harm chances for peace in the long run. They said such an attempt could turn the Arabs and Israelis against their respective patrons without settling their own quarrel. Doubts were also voiced about the practicality of a Big Power guarantee of a Middle East settlement. Critics argue that it could set the Big Powers against each other should any unforeseeable emergency arise. Israel has categorically rejected the reported Soviet peace plan on grounds that it would force Israel to withdraw from Arab territories without any guarantee of peace from the Arabs.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Riad arrived in Belgrade today, apparently to drum up support for the Soviet proposals. The semi-official Cairo newspaper, Al Ahram, warned today that Israel’s rejection of the Soviet plan “would drive the situation to the explosion point.”
The Soviet Union, which is rapidly becoming a major naval and merchant marine sea power, is vitally interested in a speedy reopening of the Suez Canal, observers here said. The waterway has been closed since the June, 1967 Arab-Israel war. Russia needs it for the immediate transportation of supplies to North Vietnam and, in the long run, to maintain the Soviet posture vis-a-vis Red China.
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