British Foreign Office Denies Existence of ‘brown Plan’ to Reopen Canal

Foreign Office circles categorically denied today that there was a so-called “Brown plan” for reopening the Suez Canal and said that, in fact, they did not think it was possible to reopen the canal before an overall Middle East settlement is achieved. Reports that there was such a plan worked out by Foreign Secretary George Brown were termed the “pure invention of some newspapers.” The Israelis “seem firmly entrenched and Nasser has repeated several times — twice this week — that he would not agree to reopen the canal while Israel troops controlled its east bank and Sinai.” according to the Foreign Office spokesmen.

While these views, expressed by the Foreign Office, appeared to counter the policies pursued by Foreign Secretary Brown up to now which were directed toward an unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops from occupied territories so as to effect a speedy reopening of the canal, informed observers here doubt that Mr. Brown has changed his strategy. They believe that he is merely anxious to keep the dialogue with Israel open and not lose Israel while chasing Nasser.