Guardian Says Arab Identification with Guerrillas Makes Peace Moves Difficult

The Guardian reported in a dispatch from Beirut today that Arab leaders are “adrift” on a popular tide of discontent and identification with guerrillas which would make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to enter into serious peace talks with Israel. According to the Guardian, King Hussein of Jordan is virtually helpless and the radical Baathist regime in Syria is digging trenches as far north as Aleppo and calling for the immediate unity of “progressive” Arab countries on the Palestine issue.

In Egypt, the Guardian said, “President Nasser would no doubt gratefully accept, in the interests of a peaceful settlement, some semantic device thought up by diplomats in New York and elsewhere which appeared to save Arab honor. But he cannot possibly be sure the Arab people would accept it, which makes it doubtful whether Nasser would, in the event of a serious Israeli response, carry his peace offensive to a logical conclusion.”