United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold will come to the Middle East especially to discuss the problems of Article Eight of the Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Agreement, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion said at a press lunche on here.
Article Eight provides that a meeting of the two countries can be called through the United Nations at the request of either party to discuss the question of access to the Holy Places and all other outstanding issues through a joint committee. Jordan has consistently refused to abide by the Article.
Ben Gurion in reply to questions, said that if Hammarskjold found it important to come to Israel to discuss Article Eight, this meant that even the UN official considered the question an urgent one. The luncheon was held to mark the November 29 anniversary of the UN partition recommendation for a Jewish State.
(At the United Nations headquarters it was confirmed that Mr. Hammarskjold intends to visit Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon next month. The announcement from Mr. Hammarskjold’s office stated that he is planning to visit the troops of the United Nations Emergency Force, in the Gaza Strip, on Christmas. “While in the Middle East,” the announcement added, the Secretary General “hopes he will visit also other countries, including Israel and Jordan.”)
Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations observer force in Lebanon, Ecuador’s Gen. Galo Plaza, arrived in Israel today for a visit of several days as a guest of the Israel Government. Gen. Plaza, former President of Ecuador, will spend his time in Israel touring the country and meeting unofficially with top Israelis.
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