Solution of Palestine Question Must Precede Pan-arab Union, Says Ibn Saud

Solution of the Palestine question must precede any measures relative to establishment of a pan-Arab federation, King Ibn Saud has advised the Egyptian Premier Mustapha Nahas Pasha, according to a report published in the Arab press here today.

The Arabian monarch was said to have set forth his views in a letter handed to the Egyptian mission sent to Saudi Arabia to secure his participation in the Cairo talks on federation scheduled to be resumed this week. The letter, which purportedly clarified Ibn Saud’s decision not to participate in the federation parleys, expressed the view, according to the local press, that an Arab union already exists “morally” as exemplified by a common language and religion.

In view of Ibn Saud’s position, it is considered unlikely that there will be concrete results from the Cairo talks, even in the direction of the limited goal, which is far short of the political and economic union sought by the pan-Arab movement.

Palestine, which is believed to be figuring largely in the current conversations in Washington with Emir Feisal, son of Ibn Saud and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister, is also expected to bulk large in the next stage of the Cairo talks when Nahas Pasha meets the Syria delegation this week. The Arab press, which has been giving considerable prominence to the talks and to the Palestine question, however, seems to recognize that no definitive action on Palestine is likely in the immediate future. The influential Cairo daily La Bourse Egyptienne points out today that “a solution of the Palestine problem does not seem opportune at the present moment.”