Dag Hammarskjold’s report to the Security Council on his achievements thus far in the Middle East “shows real progress” because it is “an actual commitment from the governments concerned” and not merely of the armistice arrangements made between commanders of the forces involved in 1949, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., chairman of the United States delegation to the UN. declared here today.
Mr. Lodge said that the Secretary General’s report “has earned our respect and gratitude.” However, the fact that not all parts of Mr. Hammarskjold’s report were understood clearly, was indicated even by Mr. Lodge when he concluded his brief statement by saying that he welcomes the “chance to talk with Mr. Hammarskjold on his return.” All diplomats here were studying the statement and there was general agreement that it had left more unsaid than it stated explicitly.
Arab delegates, particularly, seemed concerned with the meaning behind one of Mr. Hammarskjold’s sentences in which he said he has considered the problem “of possible procedural measures aiming at the strengthening of the legal framework” of the four armistice agreements. The Arabs seem to fear that this sentence may be aimed at some kind of an Arab-Israel peace drive–which they would reject in advance.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
