President Ford and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt concluded their two-day meeting here today with the decision to speed up the diplomatic momentum in the Middle East and to start negotiations in one form or another. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger said at a press conference this afternoon that the two Presidents had discussed all possible approaches and that “no avenue was excluded.”
Ford and Sadat met on five separate occasions here in less than 30 hours and reportedly considered the two main options for the resumption of peace talks; renewal of Kissinger’s step by-step approach or a search for an overall settlement. Diplomatic sources here believe the odds are weighted heavily in favor of a rapid renewal of Kissinger’s “shuttle diplomacy” in the Middle East.
President Ford made it clear, when he addressed the press today that all alternatives are still being considered and that the period of reassessment of American Middle East policy is not yet concluded. American sources here said Ford will inform Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin of his conversations with Sadat and will present the Israeli leader with the two options when they meet in Washington next week. The sources believe Rabin will probably opt for a renewal of Kissinger’s mission suspended last March.
Whatever the final result of the American reassessment, Ford made it clear that the U.S. will not tolerate a stalemate in negotiations or a freezing of the status quo. Kissinger, whose press conference provided an epilogue to the Ford-Sadat talks, said there was no question that the Geneva peace conference will have to be reconvened at some point. “We have always said this and we have not changed our minds,” he said.
NO SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS EXPECTED
He indicated that the reassessment process will come to an end after the Ford-Rabin talks June 11-12 but he did not expect President Ford to make specific recommendations then but rather the President will state his general point of view. He termed Israel’s decision to thin out its forces east of the Suez Canal a positive move but added that he did not expect an Egyptian response because the Israeli move came in response to Egypt’s decision to reopen the canal. This phase seems now to be closed, Kissinger said. (See separate story on Kissinger press conference.)
Kissinger confirmed at his press briefing that the U.S. will grant economic aid to Egypt. He said the exact sum was not known as the President will ask for credits for the Middle East only after the end of the reassessment period.
Observers here agree that a result of the Ford-Sadat meeting will be closer contacts and consultations between Cairo and Washington from now on. The two leaders are reported to have established a close and warm relationship. Ford and Sadat were seen leaving Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky’s dinner last night arm in arm and an American spokesman said that he could remember only another such instance–when Ford met Soviet Communist Party Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in Vladivostock last year. The two Presidents have also invited each other to Cairo and Washington and Egyptian sources here say that Sadat’s invitation was an official one.
Ford and Sadat, standing side by side in pouring rain, gave a brief press conference here this afternoon in the courtyard of the Salzburg Palace where they had held their working sessions. Ford confirmed they had taken into consideration all of the circumstances that are necessary for any agreement, whether step-by-step or a comprehensive one. He said the considerations were on the broadest basis.
When asked what the possible influence the letter by the 76 Senators will have on his final decision, he said that the reassessment has been conducted with the help of a great many suggestions from experts of both political parties in the United States. He said he did not consider these suggestions as being pressure. He added that when the reassessment is concluded, “I will submit a plan at the appropriate time.”
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