Secretary General Kurt Waldheim who has expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in the Middle East three times in the last few days, is expected to go to that region before the end of the month, sources here said today. They said the Secretary General was fearful of a new outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the Arab states through some “miscalculation,”
A UN spokesman, however, said that no final decision had been made on Waldheim’s trip, nor has the itinerary been set. He added that Wald-helm probably would leave after the General Assembly votes on a Palestine resolution but before Nov. 30 when the mandate expires for the United Nations Disengagement Observation Force (UNDOF) on the Israeli-Syrian front. The General Assembly is scheduled to vote late Friday on the Palestine resolution.
Waldheim. according to some reports, is expected to visit the principal Mideast capitals, which would include Jerusalem, Cairo, Amman. Beirut and Damascus. The fact that he would be leaving the UN while the General Assembly is still in session, something rarely done by a Secretary General, is indicative of the gravity with which he views the Middle East situation, the sources said.
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