Secretary General Kurt Waldheim said today he will meet with Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir Arafat during his two week swing through the Middle East next month aimed at reconvening the Geneva peace conference.
Israel had no immediate reaction on the meeting with Arafat which Waldheim announced at a press conference. But Israeli Ambassador Chaim Herzog noted that during his two meetings with Waldheim last week he emphasized that Israel does not accept last December’s General Assembly resolutions calling for a renewed Geneva conference with the participation of the PLO.
Herzog said his meetings with Waldheim only covered the UN official’s visit to Israel. He said he stressed to Waldheim that Israel’s position is that all Mideast negotiations must be based on Security Council resolutions 242 and 338.
Waldheim told the press conference that it appears now that “the circumstances are favorable for a resumption of the negotiating process (in the Mideast). Indeed, there would appear on all sides to be an active desire to find ways of reconvening the Geneva conference with the shortest possible delay.”
But Waldheim warned that if the present opportunity is lost “the situation in the Mideast will soon again be one of danger and a threat to international peace.” The Secretary General said he believed the conference could be reconvened this spring but not by the March 31 deadline set by the General Assembly resolution. Waldheim is scheduled to leave for Cairo Feb. 2 and visit Israel. Jordan. Syria and Lebanon.
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