The candidacy of the United Arab Republic for a seat on the United Nations Security Council remained undecided here today. A committee of the General Assembly postponed for at least a week the entire discussion of a number of issues related to Security Council membership.
The General Assembly’s special political committee adopted today a motion introduced Friday by India, calling for a recess of the debate on the Security Council issues. However, the major issues in conflict, most reliable diplomats here said today, are not likely to affect the UAR’s pressure to get itself elected to the Security Council.
India’s motion was intended to provide a period for negotiating behind the scenes of various demands for enlarging the membership of the Security Council and for placing on the Council a member of “black” Africa. The UAR to date has the backing of the United States and other Western Powers for its “claim” to a Council seat as a representative of the Middle East.
Some anti-UAR forces here were hoping today that, due to the week’s recess, President-elect John F. Kennedy might be persuaded to influence the United States delegation to withdraw its backing of the UAR Council candidacy. But that hope, other diplomats held, was vain, since they do not believe Mr. Kennedy will interfere in an issue on which the U.S. delegation is already instructed by the Eisenhower administration.
Meanwhile, today, the United Nations had before it an Israeli complaint against the UAR, filed on the eve of the Assembly’s scheduled Security Council elections by Michael S. Comay, chairman of Israel’s delegation here.
The Israeli complaint protested against the UAR’s formal confiscation of the cargo of the Greek freighter Astypalea. The Egyptians had halted that ship as it attempted transit through the Suez Canal on December 17, 1959, keeping it immobilized until April 10, 1960. On the latter date, the ship was allowed to sail, minus its cargo of 400 tons of cement which had been purchased from Israel by a consignee of Asmara. Eritrea. On November 3, the cargo was officially confiscated.
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