Rogers Claims Opposition to New Us Middle East Policy Prompted by ‘balance’

Secretary of State William P. Rogers said this weekend in a copyrighted interview in U.S. News And World Report that the Russians. Arabs and Israelis opposed the new U.S. Middle East policy “because our position is fair and balanced.” Referring to the American-Soviet talks on the Middle East, Mr. Rogers said “there has been some over-all improvement in the relations between the Soviet Union and the United States in these last 12 months.”

He listed the Arab-Israel conflict with Vietnam at the top of the list of the most worrisome foreign problems. He termed the Middle East “very explosive.” Mr. Rogers thought it was possible that Chinese-Russian differences might have some effect on the Soviet attitude toward the Middle East. He defined American Middle East policy as based on responsibility to promote a settlement and “to act as a catalyst to bring the parties together, to work through the U.N. machinery to see if it’s possible to work out a peace in the area.”

U.S. HAS MANY FRIENDS IN ARAB WORLD

Explaining the new U.S. Middle East policy, Mr. Rogers said “we have a good many friends in the Arab world, and we have wanted to make our position known.” He termed American policy “fair and balanced”–based upon the 1967 United Nations resolution on Israeli withdrawal. “So

Speaking of negotiations, Mr. Rogers said the present standstill “doesn’t mean that it is going to be a standstill two weeks from now.” He said that while Russia might want to keep the Middle East in turmoil “a nation like the United States has to make every effort if can to bring about a peaceful settlement.” He said “we must keep trying.” Mr. Rogers thought the Russians had displayed rigidity in past discussions and rejected American proposals on the Middle East after first acceding to certain points.