Thant Reported Under French, Egyptian Pressure to Delay Jarring Report

Informed sources here indicated today a belief that United Nations Secretary General U Thant is under pressure from Egypt and France to delay publication of a report to the Security Council which is believed to state that some progress has been achieved so far in the Jarring talks. The circles said Egypt wants to suppress the report because any sign that the Jarring talks are progressing would deprive it of the grounds for asking for a special Security Council meeting on the Middle East. Cairo is said to be supported by France in its attempt to convene the Security Council in order to pressure Israel to make further concessions on withdrawal from the occupied territories. Egypt wants Thant to withhold the report or to delete parts of it, the circles here said.

Sources at the United Nations said today that an announcement was expected shortly on the nature of a proposed report to the Security Council by Thant recommending another extension of the current cease-fire which runs out Friday. The Secretary-General was reported to be consulting on the matter with Dr. Jarring. The sources said their problem was how to indicate in their conclusions that there has been recent progress in the indirect talks toward a Middle East settlement. Although President Anwar Sadat has insisted he would not agree to a second cease-fire extension without evident progress in the Jarring talks, it was believed at the UN that Egypt would welcome an extension and therefore would agree to one if Thant and Dr. Jarring said publicly that progress had been made. Israel’s position is that it has been observing the indefinite cease-fire proclaimed by the Security Council in June, 1967 after the Six-Day War. Israeli Ambassador Yosef Tekoah was scheduled to confer with Dr. Jarring late this afternoon. In its continuing effort to avoid public comment on progress, the Israeli Consulate again said in advance that Tekoah would say nothing to the press.