The State Department announced today that as a result of a 90-minute meeting between Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and Israeli Ambassador Simcha Dinitz this morning. “some new ideas were presented and progress had been made” in the attempt to reach an interim agreement between Israel and Egypt.
The announcement was made by Department spokesman Robert Anderson when he revealed that the Kissinger-Dinitz talks which were scheduled to resume this afternoon had been postponed until a breakfast meeting at the State Department tomorrow morning. Anderson said this was because Kissinger wanted to first discuss the results of the talks this morning with President Ford.
NO AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE
Dinitz, after his meeting with Kissinger, said there had been no agreement in principle and the meeting was for clarifications and the extension of the discussions held last week in Bonn between Kissinger and Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin. Dinitz said of his meeting with Kissinger. “We had a good exchange, a very broad discussion and a very fruitful discussion.”
Anderson also later stressed that there had been no agreement in principle. He said there were no plans, even tentatively, for Kissinger to go to the Middle East again.
Dinitz said the Egyptian letter saying Cairo would not renew the mandate for the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) “was definitely not helpful.” He said he had not discussed the Egyptian-position with Kissinger but “the subject of the Egyptian letter was discussed by us.” He noted that the American attitude was expressed by Kissinger yesterday and the Israeli position by Rabin in the Knesset, and stressed that Israel would not accept an ultimatum. Dinitz said at the same time, “It will not deter us from pursuing the efforts for peace. This is exactly what we are doing.”
Anderson announced that Kissinger was scheduled to meet with Hermann Eilts, the American Ambassador to Egypt, today and tomorrow and that Eilts will probably return to Cairo tomorrow.
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