Big Four Said to Be Dragging Feet on Mideast; Deputies’ Memorandum in Progress

A spokesman for the British delegation said today that the Big Four have asked their deputies to “press on urgently with the work they had put in their hands.” The spokesman was referring to the mandate given the deputies of the Four Power ambassadors to draw up a memorandum on the progress of their Mideast talks. The Four Powers met yesterday and will meet again May 26. The spokesman noted that “the date fixed for the next meeting gives some indication of the current pace of progress that the Big Four are making.” He indicated that had the Four Power representatives thought it possible that their deputies would be ready with the memorandum earlier, they would have set an earlier date for the next meeting. “The date was fixed in light of the knowledge of the progress of the deputies,” he said. A diplomatic source said the Four Power ambassadors hoped that their deputies will have a final report ready by May 26. He conceded that despite the worsening situation in the Middle East, the Big Four were dragging their heels in their efforts to find a guideline that would pave the way for the resumption of Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring’s peace mission in the Mideast.

Discussing other facets of the Mideast situation, the British spokesman said, “The British Government still has no independent evidence to confirm or deny Israel’s charge that Soviet pilots are flying Egyptian missions.” Asked if Britain was conducting an independent investigation, he said British diplomats and officials are conducting whatever they need to but did not amplify or clarify what they were doing. A UN diplomatic source commenting on the Israeli intelligence report said that Egypt shares “with other sovereign states the right to self-determination and the right to invite whomsoever it wishes to assist in their defense. It is also true that exercising of this right in the circumstances of the Middle East may have far-reaching implications. if (Israel) reports are true, they underline the pressing need to search for peace.”