Thant to Tell Security Council Big Four See Basis for Resumption of Jarring Mission

Secretary General U Thant was preparing today to circulate among the members of the Security Council his report that the Big Four now view the developments in the Middle East as favorable for the resumption of Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring’s peace mission. It was learned today that there is no desire for a formal Council meeting to receive Mr. Thant’s report. United States Ambassador to the UN Charles W. Yost issued a statement last night after a three-hour meeting of the Big Four representatives noting they welcomed the Mideast developments and then delivered a communication from the Big Four to Mr. Thant. U.S. officials are hopeful of implementing the proposed 90-day cease-fire as quickly as possible, hopefully within a few days. They feel that delay could sabotage the peace mission of Dr. Jarring, the UN’s special Mideast peace mediator. The Big Four representatives, who endorsed the U.S. initiative last night, will meet again Aug. 19. The Big Four deputies will continue to work on a memorandum on the positions of the four on the details of implementation of Security Council Resolution 242. Diplomatic sources said today that the Big Four role in the Mideast situation would not be downgraded by the shifting of attention to Dr. Jarring and the Mideast parties. The Secretary General and the Swedish negotiator are primarily responsible for implementation of the Council resolution, they noted, and the Big Four, not being a Council organ, will continue to be “helpful.”

The immediate prospect, sources said, is for a continuation of “animated exchanges of views” and “constant back-and-forth.” The aim is to “keep the momentum going.” Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador Yosef Tekoah was to meet at noon today with Mr. Thant for what an Israeli Mission spokesman called “preliminary conversations.” Mr. Thant was also scheduled to meet with the Soviet Union’s ambassador. Sources said there are “a number of possibilities” regarding the implementation of a cease-fire. They include Israeli and Egyptian checks on each other’s Suez Canal activities, an “open skies” plan, a “beefing up” of the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), the creation of a new supervisory force, and policing by a “third party.” There was no immediate indication of what “third parties” are being considered. Egypt has in the past rejected policing by a member of the North At- lantic Treaty Organization. Before retiring as Chief of Staff of UNTSO last Saturday. Gen Odd Bull favored providing the observation teams with additional aircraft. His successor, Maj. Gen. Ensio Siilasvuo of Finland, during his visit to the UN last week, opted for the beefing up of the present 94-member UNTSO force. The U.S., however, is said to have indicated to Israel, and possibly also to Egypt, that American and Soviet satellites can detect military buildups far beyond the cease-fire lines without having provocative aircraft monitoring the areas. A site for the negotiations under Dr. Jarring’s auspices has not yet been chosen. The leading possibilities remain Geneva, Rhodes, Nicosia and New York, although Dr. Jarring reportedly does not favor the UN’s home base.

(In Moscow yesterday, a First Deputy Premier said the Soviet Union “will do everything within its power to facilitate the attainment of a just political settlement of the Middle East conflict. But the official, Kiril T. Mazurov, also reiterated Soviet demands for Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories and “satisfaction of the just rights of the Arab people of Palestine,” and laid to the U.S. and Israel “the entire responsibility for the dangerous situation that continues to exist in the Middle East.” Mr. Mazurov, a member of the Politburo, addressed a luncheon for a delegation from Iraq, which has rejected the U.S. initiative and condemned Egypt for accepting it. His remarks were seen as an attempt to persuade Iraq to go along with the U.S. proposals.)