Waldheim: Palestinian Question is an Essential Element in Resolving the Conflict in the Middle East

The tackling of the Palestinian question is “an essential element in resolving the Mideast dispute,” Secretary General Kurt Waldheim stated in his annual report to the General Assembly which he released today. “The Palestinian dimension of the Mideast problem has gained increasing attention in efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in that region.”

The Secretary General noted that the Assembly, which convenes Sept. 21, will be presented with the report of the 20-member committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The committee’s report was rejected earlier in the year by the Security Council after the United States vetoed it. Israel does not recognize the committee and termed its recommendation as a plan for “the destruction of Israel.”

Referring to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Waldheim stated in his report: “Although efforts to resume the negotiating process in the Middle East are, in the present circumstances, in abeyance, it is vital that they should be resumed in earnest as soon as the conditions in the region provide an opening for renewed negotiations.”

CRISIS IN LEBANON ASSESSED

The civil war in Lebanon, Waldheim noted, “has brought tragedy and destruction to Lebanon.” He warned that the relationship of the Lebanese crisis to the Middle East problem as a whole “underlines its serious potential threat to international peace.”

Continuing, Waldheim stated: “The Lebanese tragedy continues in all its horror and violence, and the best efforts and intentions of the leaders concerned and of the international community appear unavailing in the face of the violent passion involved.” Waldheim noted, however, that despite the situation in Lebanon the UN Truce Supervision Organization “has been able to continue its important task of observing the ceasefire in the Israel-Lebanon sector.”

On the issue of international terrorism, Waldheim said that “recent events have dramatically underscored the urgent need for the world community to find effective ways of dealing with acts of international terrorism.” He said that international terrorism has become a threat “to all governments and people” and said that urgent action to combat terrorism is needed.

AVINERI MEETS WITH WALDHEIM

Last night, the director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Prof. Shlomo Avineri, met Waldheim for a conversation that was described as a “courtesy call.” Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Chaim Herzog, and Undersecretary General Roberto Guyer also participated in the meeting.

During the conversation, which lasted more than an hour, Avineri and Waldheim exchanged views concerning the up-coming General Assembly and the outcome of the recent conference of the non-aligned countries in Colombo, which Waldheim attended. Avineri arrived here this during the past year, according to the “Military Balance 1976-77,” published here today by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Last year’s report noted that Israel had two submarines in service with three more on order. The latest report lists Israel as having five submarines.

Neither Israel nor Britain have ever confirmed that the order was placed, though about two years ago, when news of the order first leaked out, Arab ambassadors went to the British Foreign Office to complain about the sale.

Vickers, at Barrow in Furness, who are believed to have won the Israeli order, have consistently refused to confirm or deny that they were building the craft for Israel. A spokesman for the company told the Jewish Telegraphic. Agency today that while continuing to adhere to this policy, he would have to describe the data in the military report as “bunk, sheer bunk.”