United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold has failed to obtain from the Egyptian authorities a clear undertaking to release five Israeli and one Italian fisherman jailed for the past three months since the trawler Doron was apprehended on the high seas by Egyptian gunboats, it was learned from informed sources tonight.
Mr. Hammarskjold continues to express the hope that the men will be released, though he does not indicate a time by which he hopes to see them free. It is known that the Secretary General, who conferred last with the Egyptians during Christmas week, made several direct efforts to obtain the release of the six. Each time the Egyptians refused.
The Secretary General several times in advance on meetings with the Egyptians has threatened to make public any refusal on their part to release the six. However, after each obstinate rejection he has postponed an appeal to public opinion to make yet another personal try.
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