The United Nations announced today that Secretary General Kurt Waldheim will fly to Geneva on Sunday to confer with Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring, his special representative to the Middle East, before embarking on a five-nation tour of the Middle East next Tuesday.
According to the UN announcement, Waldheim will meet with Syrian officials in Damascus on Aug. 27-28, with Lebanese officials in Beirut Aug. 28-29 and with Israeli officials in Jerusalem Aug. 30-31. He will visit Egypt Sept. 1-2, and Jordan Sept. 3-4.
Waldheim’s original invitation to visit the Middle East to attempt to break the current impasse came from Cairo and was followed by invitations from the four other nations. The UN spokesman said the Secretary General would discuss with Dr. Jarring “the latest developments of Jarring’s mission” and “Jarring’s feelings about the trip.”
Observers here noted that Waldheim will be conferring with the leaders of Syria, a country that never recognized the Jarring mission and was not visited by Dr. Jarring.
Waldheim met this morning with the Egyptian Ambassador to the UN, Abdel Meguid. Yosef Tekoah, the Israeli UN Ambassador, may be in Jerusalem when the Secretary General arrives there. After visiting the Middle East, Waldheim plans to attend a conference of non-aligned states in Algiers during the first week in Sept.
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