Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home was strangely reticent on the Middle East during a briefing for diplomatic correspondents here prior to his departure for the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He made no references to Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab territories, a move that he said in Cairo last week was a prerequisite for Middle East peace. Observers believe Sir Aleo may have been impressed by the strong Israeli reaction to his Cairo remarks. They also believe that he was shaken by evidence of Soviet unreliability stemming from the exposure of the extent of Soviet espionage in Britain. The disclosures resulted in the expulsion of 110 Russian diplomats from Britain yesterday.
Sir Alec repeated that he felt President Anwar Sadat of Egypt sincerely wanted a peace settlement. He expressed surprise when asked whether he would try to bring together Foreign Minister Abba Eban of Israel and Foreign Minister Mahmoud Riad of Egypt during the General Assembly sessions in New York. The British diplomat said that all that could be hoped for at this stage was a reinstatement of the Jarring mission. He did not stress the need to reactivate the Four Power (US, USSR, Britain and France) consultations on the Middle East.
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