Secretary General U Thant expressed the opinion here today that, following the summit conference of 13 Arab heads of state and other leading officials in Cairo last week, to deal with Israel’s plans for drawing Jordan River waters, “the situation in the area is not as explosive as I had anticipated.”
Mr. Thant was asked during a press conference whether he still thought that the Middle East situation now was “threatening.” He had voiced such a prediction during an address in Columbia University three weeks ago. Today Mr. Thant said:
“When I expressed my concern about prospective developments in the Middle East, I had in mind the Arab-Israel situation as well as Cyprus which is, of course, also in that region. We are dealing with the Cyprus situation in another context. But after conclusion of the Cairo summit conference, I am not so sure that my deep concern regarding Arab-Israel issues was warranted. From the news reports I am not so sure of that.”
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