Secretary General Kurt Waldheim said today that “chances for progress in the Middle East have never been better than now,” and said also that he is “confident” that the first months of 1977 will bring a breakthrough in the stalemate in the Middle East.
Addressing a press conference on the occasion of his reappointment to a new five-year term as Secretary General. Waldheim said that there are now “excellent chances” for the reconvening of the Geneva peace conference. He declared that all parties concerned are interested in a negotiated settlement in the Mideast and that recent events in the area, notably the end of the Lebanese civil war, make the prospect of progress better.
Waldheim expressed confidence that all problems and difficulties toward the reconvening of the Geneva conference will be overcome. He added that he is keeping contact with the two co-chairmen to the Geneva conference, the United States and the Soviet Union, and with the parties to the conflict. But, he added, the United Nations “will have to play a useful part” in the Geneva conference.
Answering a question as to whether he considers the present General Assembly less acrimonious on the issue of the Middle East than previous Assemblies, Waldheim said “yes.” He said that he detects “a new trend” in the Assembly to go beyond mere resolutions and to start negotiations. He also said that there is much understanding now of the problem of international terrorism, adding he believed that the West German resolution against the taking of hostages had a good chance to be adopted.
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