Secretary of State William P. Rogers left Morocco today for Tunisia, the second country on the itinerary of his 10-nation African tour. He told his hosts in Rabat that United States policy in the Middle East was not prejudiced in any direction except toward peace. He re-affirmed American policies embodied in his Dec. 9, 1969 speech. Mr. Rogers received a welcome described as “correct” but “cool” when he arrived at Rabat airport with Mrs. Rogers yesterday. In response to the official greeting by Foreign Minister Abdelhadi Boutaleb, the Secretary of State said there had been “some misunderstanding” about American policy in the Middle East. He did not specify its nature.
Before leaving the country, Mr. Rogers had an official luncheon with King Hassan and a conference with Mr. Boutaleb. He signed a U.S.-Moroccan air transport agreement. No details were given of his talks with Moroccan leaders. But it is believed Mr. Rogers took pains to explain that his Dec. 9 speech which called for peace negotiations between Israel and Egypt and Israel and Jordan, was intended as a guideline and not as a solution to be dictated to the conflicting parties. The Arabs objected to the peace aspects of that speech. The Israelis were aroused by Mr. Rogers call for their withdrawal from virtually all the occupied Arab territories and viewed his speech as an indication of an “erosion” of American support of Israel.
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