The American Secretary of State, William P. Rogers, conferred for nearly 90 minutes today with his French counterpart, Foreign Minister Maurice Schumann. Their meeting was devoted almost entirely to the Middle East. Rogers said afterwards that he hoped his upcoming visit to that region could help “to make a breakthrough towards an eventual settlement.” Rogers, accompanied here by Assistant Secretary Joseph J. Sisco and 40 aides, also said that an interim solution, such as reopening of the Suez Canal, could well be helping toward that final pact. The American contingent then left immediately for Ankara and the ministerial meeting of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO). French sources said Rogers agreed with Schumann that the U.S. feels the Big Four talks “still have an important role to play.” Rogers was also said to have agreed that a solution to the Suez situation was not “an end by itself,” but only “a first step toward a wider solution.” The French ambassador to Cairo, Francois Puaux, met for more than an hour here yesterday with President Georges Pompidou, informing him of Egypt’s long-range intentions. France has been increasingly used by Egypt as Cairo’s main “Western advisor.”
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