THURSDAY, MAY 25, 19f 7 THr MICHIGAN DAIL'Y' THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1967 THE MICHIGAN DAILY A.. t7 V.9 Arab-Israeli Crisis in Middle East U.S. Seeks Conference Of Big Four No UN Action; Russia Asks American Exit From Mediterranean UNITED NATIONS, N.Y.-The United States announced yester- day its readiness to join with the Soviet Union, France and Britain both within and outside the Unit- ed Nations to prevent war in the Middle East. But the Soviet Union, while not rejecting outright any call for "Big Four" talks, countered with a demand that the United States and Britain withdraw their fleets from the Mediterranean. The US.-Soviet exchange took place at an afternoon session of the U.N. Security Council, where U.S. Ambassador Arthur J. Gold- berg announced the United States is willing to take part in big four talks as proposed in Paris by French government officials. Goldberg delivered an appeal also for council support for Sec- retary-General U Thant in his personal peace mission to Cairo. Thant Return A U.N. spokesman announced last night Secretary-General U Thant probably will leave Cairo this morning for New York, a full day ahead of his previously sched- uled return from his peace mis- sion. The council adjourned at 6:13 p.m. without -setting a date for another meeting. It is thought unlikely that there will be any ac- tion before Thant's return tonight. In a speech that sided with the R Arabs and criticized Israel, Soviet Ambassador Nikolai T. Fedorenko said that if Washington and Lon- don really wanted to relax Middle East tensions they should first of all "withdraw from the Mediter- ranean their fleets, which consti- tute one of the most serious causes of tension in that part of the world." Supports Arabs Fedorenko read out the full text of the official Soviet statement re- leased Monday affirming support for the Arab countries against any aggression. Elaborating on the U.S. drive for peace in the Middle East, Gold- berg told the council: "I am au- thorized to announce that the United States, both within and outside the United Nations, is prepared to join with all the other great powers-the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and France-in a common effort to restore and maintain peace in the Middle East." He said that all must join in the search for peace-the sec- retary-general, the Security Coun- cil, and the 'great powers. "Both separately and together let us work in this common cause." In effect Goldberg was voicing U.S. acceptance of the proposal by the French that the four powers consult, but he also pressed for action in the 15-nation council. Formal Resolution Denmark and Canada submitted a formal resolution to have the council express its full support for Thant and request member nations to refrain from any steps that might worsen the situation. Egyptian Ambassador Mohamed el Kony told the council the reso- lution represented an attempt to sabotage Thant's mission. He ac- cused Denmark and Canada of acting on behalf of the United States and Britain in seeking the council meeting. El Kony did not say anything J about mining the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba. But Israeli Ambas- sador Gideon Rafael said such re- ports had been received in his country. Rafael cited statements by his government that attempts to block the gulf would amount to an act of aggression. 'Utmost Gravity' "The action of Egypt," he said, "constitutes a challenge of the ut- most gravity not only to Israel but to the whole international community." At the start of Wedn asday's ses- sions the Soviet Union objected to council action at this time. Fedorenko suggested that the Imeetings real purpose was to throw a smokescreen over U.S. plans to intervene in the Middle East.' Expressions of support for Fed- *orenko's objection to a council meeting at this time came from France, India, Bulgaria and Mali. Burying Head Goldberg replied that not to consider the crisis immediately would be like the United Nations burying its head in the sand. He * * * Arab Bloc Mobilizes -Associated Press Aerial Map of Troubled Area Removal of UN Forces Seen as U ThantI Blunder BEIRUT, Lebanon (A) - The United States, Britain, and France sought yesterday to focus interna- tional pressure for peace on the Middle East but Arab nations toughened their military challenge to Israel. Egypt moved to enforce its threat of blockading the Gulf of Aqaba by mining the Strait of Tiran, where the Gulf meets the Red Sea, Cairo's authoritative newspaper Al Ahram reported. It said Eygptian planes and torpedo boats were patrolling the area. As far as was known, the block- ade had no immediate effect op Israeli shipping. Lloyds of London, the international shipping under- writers, said it knew of no vessels of any country heading for the gulf of leaving Elath, the Israeli 'port at its head. Iraq Sends Forces Saudi Arabia ordered general mobilization of its forces, and Iraq said it would send land and air forces to support Egypt and Syria. King Hussein of Jordan urged Arab leaders to unite in-the face of what he called Israel's threat. It was announced that Jordan had granted permission for troops from Iraq and Saudi Arabia to move into Jordan as part of over- all Arab military planning. A series of border incidents be- tween Israel and Syria touched off the crisis. It reached explosive dimensions Monday with a threat by Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser to blockade the Gulf of Aqaba. Israel has said it would fight to reopen the 125-mile waterway, its direct sea route to Asia and East Africa. Thant in Cairo Meanwhile in Cairo, UN Sec- retary-General U Thant was re- ported "highly disturbed" at the convening of a UN Security Coun- cil session in New York on the Mideast crisis during his absence. Thant's displeasure was report- ed as he held his first talks with Egyptian President Nasser to dis- cuss a peace formula based on creation of a revamped Egyptian- Israeli mixed armistice commis- sion on an eleventh-hour effort to head off war. Highly qualiifed sources said the armistice commission envisaged by Thant would be under United Nations supervision and would be similar to the one dissolved in 1956 following Israel's refusal to participate. Mixed Commission Egyptian sources said Egypt would be willing to endorse estab- lishment of such a mixed commis- sion. The semi-official Egyptian news- paper Al Ahram said yesterday that Nasser has reacted "sympa- thetically" to UN Secretary-Gen- eral U Thant's efforts to avert.an Arab-Israeli war. The paper, which often reflects Nasser's political thinking, said the Egyptian leader was willing to "facilitate" Thant's mission to Cairo. Brown in Moscow British Foreign Secretary George Brown appealed in a public lecture in Moscow for Soviet help in re- turning a UN presence to the area. He referred to the UN Emer- gency Force, removed by Thant at Egypt's request last week from po. sitions along the Egyptian-Israeli border where it had kept the peace following the Suez war. Brown discussed the crisis with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko and Premier Alexi N. Kosygin. Sources said he asked the Soviets to urge restraint in Cairo and Damassus. Eban to U.S. Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban flew toward New York, stop- ping on the way for talks with French President Charles de Gaulle and Prime Minister Wil- son. Israeli sources said Eban would demand that U.S. officials clarify their intentions in the crisis and would remind them of previous American assurances of support for Israel against Arab attack. President Johnson reviewed the Middle East situation at a meet- ing with the National Security Council and also met during the day with Dr. Mostafa Kamel, am- bassador of the United Arab Re- public. George Christan, White House press secretary, said no decisions By MAX HARRELSON Associated Press News Analyst UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (IP)- Many U.N. diplomats are saying privately that U Thant may have blundered by assuming that Gamal Abdel Nasser really wanted the U.N. Emergency Force withdrawn from Egyptian territory. Their theory is that Nasser was making a grandstand play for the benefit of the other Arab countries and that he was surprised by the quick move of the secretary-gen- eral to accede to Egypt's request to pull out the 3,400-man force. Friday Decision Thant announced his decision on Friday. The night before, one member of Nasser's delegation pri- vately had expressed the belief that the problem could be worked out. He noted a 1961 precedent when Egypt wanted to occupy some posts held by the emergency force. At that time commanders on the scene settled the problem. Some diplomats argue that Thant could have taken any one of several courses to make sure there was no way out except to bow to Nasser's demand. One course might have been a persnoal appeal-perhaps face to face-to the Egyptian leader. Another could have been a request for such an appeal by the Security Council or by key members of the United Nations. Most agree that if all such measures had been exhausted, the secretary-general would then have had no alternative except to with- draw the forces. It has always been accepted at the United Na- tions that peacekeeping forces can be sent to a country only with that country's consent and that once this consent is withdrawn the forces have to pull out. Why was Thant in a hurry to accede to Nasser's request? His explanation was that the U.N. force could not function with- out the continuing consent and cooperation of the host country. He expressed concern over the pos- sibility that refusal to accede might endanger men of the seven countries making up the force. Sinai Desert One of his top advisers said Thant had to act quickly because Egyptian forces alreadyl had be- gun to occupy some of the posts held by Yugoslav units of the force in the Sinai Desert. It was learned from other sources that both, Yugoslavia and India, allies of the Nasser government, threatened to pull their contingents out of the U.N. force unless Thant yielded to the Egyptian demands at once. Critics of Thant's action, while not willing to identify themselves with such speculation, even sug- gest that his decision may have been influenced by his long friend- ship with Nasser. As a Burmese, Thant was active in Asian-African meetings before becoming sec- retary-general. He has had numer- ous meetings with the Egyptian leader since he became secretary- general. U.S. 'Dismayed' President Johnson said the United States was "dismayed at the hurried withdrawal" without reference to U.N. voting. U.S. Am- bassador Arthur J. Goldberg, was among diplomats who tried to per- suade Thant to delay action. Canada and Brazil, with units in the U.N. force, expressed the belief that he should refer the matter to the General Assembly, but they did not press this. U.N. officials have taken the position that, although the as- sembly authorized the force in 1956 it was the secretary-general who organized it and negotiated the agreement to put it on Egyp- tian soil. This, they say, placed the responsibility for action in Thant's hands. Critics suggest he could have at least delayed action by referring the Egyptian demand to the Gen- eral Assembly or the Security Council and that this delay might have enabled Nasser to back down on his demand-if he was seeking such an opportunity. There is little chance now, di- plomats believe, to win a reprieve for the U.N. forces. Morse Asks U.S. Acion Against Israel Blockade Nasser's Long Quest For Arab World Role By WILLIAM L. RYAN Associated Press News Analyst "For some reason," wrote Gamal Abdel Nasser long ago, "it seems that within the Arab circle there is a role, wandering aimlessly." In those words probably lay the philosophy which has motivated him ever since. A philosophy which, time after time, seemed to drive him to the brink of inter- national disaster. The Egyptian president has tried to fill that dimly defied role involving an almost mystic feeling of "Arabism" and a dream of see- ing Arabs united over a vast area from the Persian Gulf to the west- ern reaches of North Africa. Egypt at Centerffi As Nasser saw it in his pam- phlet, "Egypt's Liberation," he and Egypt were at the center of two vast geographic circles-the Arab world and, around it, the African continent. Areas which would play a major role in shaping mankind's future. Stepping into this role as leader of this concept Nasser was con- stantly baffled by the chronic dis- unity of "Arab unity." Religion and nationalism tended to tie Arabs together. But their own dis- sensions, disputes and ancient jealousies continued to tear them apart. Nasser, constantly damning the 19th century and the ghosts of "colonialism and imperialism," blamed the West for the Arab world's backwardness, divisions and confusions. He never got over the traumatic experience and the bitterness of Egypt's defeat. He blamed Israel's creation on the West, and vowed to rally "revolu- tionary forces against imperial- ism." Suez Crisis In 1956 Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, touching off the most dangerous Middle East crisis of that decade. France, Britain and Israel joined quarrels with Saudi Arabia and Jordan, all tended to tarnish his image as the leader of all Arabs. Nasser turned for a while to- ward Egypt's internal problems, working long hours every day, listening to advisers but making decisions alone. Perhaps, some thought, Nasser in 1967 was seeking to refurbish his image as he edged closer and closer to new and dangerous crisis --impelled as ever by his pursuit of the aimlessly wandering role. WASHINGTON {P) - Wayne Morse and other senators called for immediata U.S. action to chal- lenge Egypt's blockade against Is- rael yesterday while other coun- seled against any singlehanded moves. As U.S. and British officials confered urgently on a joint pol- icy in the Middle East crisis, Morse (D-Ore), told the Senate: "American ships should be sent through that strait now." Voicing similar sentiments, Sen. Harrison A. Williams (D-NJ) said: "I call for this country to im- mediately exercise its rights." Williams said the United States should ask Britain, France and other nations to join in chal- lenging the blockade proclaimed World News Rot WASHINGTON-- House Dem- Rep. Albert H. Quie (R-Minn), ocrats, hitting hard on the threat would have replaced the present of a revived religious controversy, system of direct federal grants to turned back yesterday a Repub- the states. There would be a single lican proposal to put federal plan for each state. school aid under state control. House Speaker The 197-168 vote was a major John McCormack said the Quie victory for President Johnson, who amendment would "rend the deli- hailed passage of the school aid cate fabric of compromise" that program two years ago as his made possible enactment of the proudest legislative achievement. Elementary and Secondary School Republicans called the church- Act in 1965. state issue a fantasy and accused the Democrats of ssuing it to be- COLUMBIA, S.C.- A Special{ cloud the issue, but there was Forces combat veteran testified in little doubt it was an important military court yesterday that U.S. factor in the vote, soldiers in Vietnam turned their Parochial schools are now par- backs on brutal treatment of pris- ticipating in federally aided pro- oners by South Vietnamese during grams for poor children, and 1964-65. Roman Catholic educators have "When it started, you would urged Congress to keep the ex- turn around and light a cigarette," isting program intact, said Donald W. Duncan of Berke- The GOP proposal, offered by ley, Calif., who left the Army in o You Enjoy Acting But, Are You Nervous . UNIONLEAGUE JOIN indup 1965 after 18 months in Vietnam. Duncan has written a book about the war and is military editor of Ramparts Magazine. Duncan was called by the de- fense in the court-martial of Capt. Howard B. Levy accused of dis- obeying orders to train Special Forces medics at Ft. Jackson Army Hospital near Columbia. Duncan was the final witness in the defense effort to prove Levy's contention that the orders to train Special Forces aid-men, or med- ics, were illegal on the ground that Special Forces troops commit war crimes banned by international law. Col. Earl V. Bronw, military judge, recessed the trial until 1 p.m. today to review testimony and points of law before ruling on the admissibility of war crimes evidence, to the full 10-member tribunal. by Egyptian President Gamel Ab- dul Nasser. Israel depends heavily on oil shipments through the Red Sea and up the Gulf of Elath. Senate 'Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield of Montana told the Senate, however, that this country must not intervene unilaterally. And Sen. Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R-Iowa) advised against any im- mediate challenge of the blockade. "Let's see if, for once, the Unit- ed Nations can do what it is sup- posed to do and never has really done," Hickenlooper said. Mansfield told the Senate that members of the Foreign Relations Committee advised Secretary of State Dean Rusk in forceful terms that there should be no unilateral intervention by this country. Morse joined Senate leaders in urging U.N. action, but he said American rights on the high seas should be reasserted at once. "We must not permit the pas- sage of time," Morse said. For otherwise Nasser and his Russian friends may argue that the block- ade represents a status quo that cannot be altered. Moscow Opportunity Sen. J. Fulbright (D-Ark), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, told the Senate that the Soviet Union has a, singular opportunity, through its great in- fluence with the Arab nations, to work for peace. If Moscow would take the ini- tiative in the Middle East, Ful- bright said, it might also lead to a peacemaking effort in Vietnam through the United Nations. Administration legal experts made it clear to newsmen that the United States holds to its long- standing position that the gulf is an international waterway and that Egypt has no right to control shipping through the Strait of Tiran, the narrow passage leading to the gulf. lip ADM*WMM.% u Gamma a B'NAI B'RITH HILLEL FOUNDATION TOMORROW S9 A .... . .. ,.I ..