U.S. Adopts ‘sitting Tight’ Attitude at U. N. on Arab Refugee Issue

The United States delegation is sitting tight, refusing to make any proposals regarding the Arab refugee problem, and even declining to encourage neutral efforts to offer any kind of way out of this year’s impasse in the General Assembly’s Special Political Committee which is debating the Arab refugee problem.

Due to the vacuum created by the attitude of the United States delegation, no member of the 82-member committee was willing to take the floor in the debate this afternoon. The scheduled afternoon session was, therefore, cancelled. Later today India was persuaded to take the floor tomorrow whereupon a session was scheduled for tomorrow morning.

The United States delegation took a beating last year when the Arabs strenuously opposed any move toward some kind of solution of the refugee problem–while neither the United Nations nor any of the other Western Powers friendly to the U. S. would support the position of Washington’s delegation. Therefore, the U.S. delegation is determined not to show its hand at present in any way whatsoever.

It appeared today that the long drawn out debate will continue all through next week. By that time, it is believed there will still be no resolution to be placed before the Committee calling for any action this year. At the end of next week, as it seems now, the Special Political Committee is likely to suspend the refugee debate going on to other items on the agenda. The refugee debate would then be picked up again after private, behind-the-scenes negotiations would produce some kind of a draft resolution more or less acceptable to all concerned, including the Arabs, Hammarskjold, and the U. S.