The State Department said today it lacked “anything directly to confirm” reports that Egypt had decided to postpone action at the United Nations General Assembly–which opens next Tuesday–until mid-November to allow the United States more time to achieve progress toward a Middle East settlement.
Spokesman Charles Bray, responding to a question at his regular news briefing, said that U.S. officials would devote “much effort” in New York with the parties concerned in a settlement, in the hope that “they will mesh.” Secretary of State William P. Rogers said last week that the U.S. would engage in active discussions on the Middle East for the remainder of this year. He said the discussions would include his planned talks with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko when the General Assembly gets underway.
Asked whether the U.S. would take a more active role in efforts to reopen the Suez Canal. Bray said that he would be unable to answer that question until the State Department had a chance to consult with British officials concerning the visit earlier this week in Cairo by Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the British Foreign Secretary. In response to another question, Bray said there was “nothing available to us” about a report that Egypt had asked the United State to request Britain to take over the role of mediator for an interim Israeli-Egyptian agreement to reopen the canal.
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