A denial that he sought to torpedo the German-Israeli-Jewish reparations talks currently proceeding at The Hague was made here today to the Jewish Observer by Dr. Herman Abs, head of the West German delegation at the London conference on Germany’s external debts.
The German official said that it was no denigration of the claims made at The Hague to say that the German Federal Government could not arrive at a figure which it could afford to pay Israel without considering all claims being made against Germany. It was important to understand, he declared, that the last word on any settlement which involved payment in the form of transfers abroad or payment in the form of goods rested not with the German Government but with the three occupying powers.
The charge that Dr. Abs sought to torpedo the talks at The Hague was made by the London Jewish Chronicle last week. That paper published a letter today from Dr. Eckwaedt, chief press officer of the German Government, charging that an interview with him published by the paper had distorted his statements. He denied having said that Chancellor Konrad Adenauer had been forced to compel several members of his cabinet to agree to payment to Israel.
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