A spokesman for the United Nations said today that Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring, the UN’s peace envoy to the Middle East, was continuing to meet with “interested parties” for consultations about the possibility of resuming his Mideast peace mission. The spokesman also said there was still no indication from UN Secretary General U Thant whether or not he was “optimistic or pessimistic” about the Big Four talks held in New York last Thursday, two days after Dr. Jarring returned to the UN, and scheduled again for this Thursday.
Since his return here from Moscow, Ambassador Jarring met with Israel’s permanent representative to the UN, Yosef Tekoah, Lebanon’s envoy, Eduard Ghorra, and Egypt’s acting ambassador, Dr. Abdulla El Irian. Dr. Jarring was scheduled to meet with Mr. Thant during the weekend reportedly to convey his impressions of his talks with the various representatives. A spokesman for the UN, however, said there was no word on whether or not the two officials met. Mr. Tekoah had described his meeting with Dr. Jarring as “exploratory” but declined to disclose the contents of their talk. After his meeting, Mr. Tekoah told newsmen that it was too early for Dr. Jarring to decide about a future course of action. Mr. Tekoah noted that a difficulty in making the decision was that Israel was prepared to cooperate with the peace mission while the Arab states, with the urgings of the Soviet Union, were continuing to pursue their “war of attrition.”
(According to reports reaching London from Cairo, Dr. El Irian told Dr. Jarring during their discussion that Egypt did not object to Dr. Jarring’s return to the Middle East provided “he would bring with him an implementary program for Israel withdrawal within a specific period.” The period suggested by Dr. El Irian was from three to six months. This proposal, which was published in today’s semi-official Egyptian newspaper, Al Ahram, also contained the suggestion that any cease fire must be tied to the implementation of the Security Council’s November 1967 resolution. The newspaper quoted Dr. El Irian as telling Dr. Jarring that any attempt to “separate the cease fire resolution from the November decision would be regarded as an attempt to impose surrender on the Arabs and would be rejected.”)
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