Mark Ethridge, former U.S. member of the U.N. Conciliation Commission for Palestine, who arrived in New York yesterday following his resignation from the Commission, will report to President Truman on the Lausanne peace talks, if was revealed here today by James E. Webb, Acting Secretary of State.
(Mr. Ethridge said on his arrival in New York last night that he was “optimistic about peace” In the Middle East. Although conceding that the “Arab-Israeli talks now being held at Lausanne under Commission sponsorship had “pretty well stalemated at the moment,” Ethridge said the U.N. group was “trying new approaches to reach a settlement.”)
Mr. Webb declined to give any specific answers today when asked at his news conference if the American Government had received a favorable reply from Israel to its note asking that Arab refugees be permitted to return to the Jewish state. He said he did not wish to comment on single points while efforts were being made to secure the broader objective of peace.
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