Pompidou Pledges France Will Support Any Political Move to Revive Jarring Talks

President Georges Pompidou pledged today that France will support any political move which would reactivate the stalled Jarring peace talks. He warned that the absence of a Middle East settlement would seriously endanger the situation in that region. Pompidou, speaking at a luncheon at the Elysee Palace in honor of King Hussein of Jordan, said that France would seek to foster a political settlement “as soon as possible” based on the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 242 of Nov. 22, 1967. French Foreign Minister Maurice Schumann told newsmen after an hour-long meeting with Hussein yesterday that there is “practically total Franco-Jordanian agreement” on the issue of the Four Power consultations and renewal of the Jarring peace mission. Pompidou and Hussein met alone for over an hour following today’s luncheon. Later they were joined by Premier Jacques Chaban-Delmas, France’s Ambassador to Amman, Jacques Moreillon and the Jordanian Ambassador to France.

Hussein arrived here yesterday from Washington where he conferred with President Nixon last week. He goes to Bonn tomorrow for a meeting with West Germany’s Chancellor Willy Brandt. According to observers here, the Jordanian monarch has endeavored to appear as a spokesman for the “entire Arab nation” as well as the representative of Jordan. Political sources said the French government is trying to cultivate the moderate Arab states, such as Jordan, after being disappointed in its attempts to court the more extremist governments. Pompidou said at today’s luncheon that “the ideal political solution (in the Mideast) must be based on the territorial integrity and the independence of all states in the Middle East and must also take into account the aspirations of the Arab populations.”