The State Department indicated today that it does not view Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring’s talks with Israeli and Egyptian diplomats as a resumption of the UN mediator’s Middle East peace-seeking mission, Robert J. McCloskey. State Department spokesman, said at today’s news briefing that it cannot be concluded “that this is a literal and formal resumption” of the Jarring Mission.
McCloskey noted that Dr. Jarring was conducting his talks under the mandate of the UN Security Council Resolution 242. He replied affirmatively when asked if this week’s General Assembly resolution had no bearing now on the Jarring mission. One of the resolution’s operative paragraphs stated: “…Further invites the parties of the Middle East conflict to give their full cooperation to the special representative in order to work out practical measures” to guarantee “the territorial inviolability and political independence of every state in the area,” to achieve “a just settlement of the refugee problem,” and to guarantee “freedom of navigation through international waterways in the area.”
State Department sources told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that it was unlikely that Egypt would ask for a Security Council meeting to affirm the resolution adopted by the Assembly Monday night. Earlier reports indicated that Egypt would try to call for a Council meeting within 10 days.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
