White House officials indicated today that President Nixon may have discussed the Middle East crisis at today’s National Security Council meeting although it was not on the agenda. A full-dress council meeting on the Middle East was scheduled for Saturday.
UN Ambassador Charles W. Yost conferred with special Middle East peace envoy, Dr. Gunnar V. Jarring, at UN headquarters today. He was also scheduled to confer with Secretary-General U Thant. Dr. Jarring was expected to confer later with the envoys of the Soviet Union and France. He met with a British envoy. The French Government has urged an immediate Big Four conference to take up the Middle East crisis. Diplomatic sources said that Mr. Yost could not clarify U.S. policy on the Middle East until after Saturday’s meeting. Britain has reportedly given an oral reply to France on its Four Power proposal which has been endorsed by Moscow. Mr. Yost also delivered to this month’s Security Council president, Max Jakobson of Finland–a Jew–a letter deploring mass executions in Iraq.
Speculation on the course the Nixon administration will take in the Middle East has brought no response from Government officials. State Department officials have emphasized that the Nixon Administration does not consider itself bound by principles laid down by the Johnson Administration.
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