United Nations officials today speculated on the possible effect of an almost certain Soviet walk-out from the Trusteeship Council on the plan to internationalize Jerusalem.
The Soviet exit, when the Council meets in Geneva on Thursday, was foreshadowed following the departure yesterday of Russian representatives from three U.N. bodies–the Special Committee on Stateless Persons, the Subcommission on Minorities, and a procedural committee of the Economic and Social Council. They left after a formal resolution calling for the immediate ousting of China’s representatives to the U.N. was defeated.
In every group the Soviet delegate, joined by other East European countries, before leaving, served notice that his government would regard any decisions taken hereafter as illegal. In the Special Committee on Stateless Persons, delegate Dr. Jacob Robinson representing Israel which recognized the Chinese Communist Government, abstained on the Russian resolution, along with India and Denmark which also recognized the Chinese Communists. All committees rejected the Soviet ouster motion on the grounds that they lacked competence to alter their composition.
A Russian walk-out from the Trusteeship Council, it is believed here, would cast a legal doubt on any action the Council may take to internationalize Jerusalem. Certainly those who support placing Jerusalem under a U.N. regime would lose a valuable ally since Moscow has insisted on the internationalization of Jerusalem.
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