world in general. They also expressed pleasure at the presence of Mr. Bhutto at his first CENTO Ministerial Council Meeting since becoming Minister for External Affairs of Pakistan.

The Council of Ministers then reviewed the international situation in their traditional free and frank manner. While recognising the serious dangers and problems to be overcome before there could be any real prospect of a reduction in world tension, they reiterated the determination of their Governments to explore all means of achieving the aim of promoting peace and security. The ultimate objective was world disarmament, with clear, specific, and adequate safeguards. Meanwhile, the alliance in pursuance of its aims, must exercise constant vigilance, firmness and restraint, fortified by the mutual support and encouragement of the participating countries.

The Council stressed the importance of continuing economic development and social progress in the region. They noted with satisfaction, from the report of the Economic Committee, the progress in CENTO joint communications projects, on which about twelve thousand persons were currently employed. In particular, they were pleased to note that the development of the port of Trabzon had recently been completed, thereby providing an improved outlet for regional trade. Good progress had been made in the development of the Turkish-Iran road link, which should be open to traffic by the end of the year. In the field of telecommunications, the Council took note of the good progress being made with the microwave system and the CENTO Airway navigational aid project, both of which will link the three countries of the region and should be completed by the first half of next year. Since the Council met last, the completion of the high frequency system linking London and CENTO capitals had been extended to Pakistan.

In considering the report of the Military Committee, the Council took note of suggestions for further improving the defensive value of the alliance. By maintaining its strength the alliance would continue to play its part in the general efforts toward the solution of world problems.

The Council further agreed that the gathering momentum of the multilateral technical cooperation and the cultural relations programmes made a valuable contribution to the development of the region and to better understanding among the peoples.

The Council found their consultations invaluable both for assessing world and regional problems and for taking stock of the achievements of the alliance.

The Council decided that the next Ministerial meeting should be held in Washington in early 1964.

B. The Palestine Refugee Problem

VII-3

UNRWA COMMITMENT "TO INCREASE THE PROPORTION OF AVAILABLE FUNDS DEVOTED TO EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES”: Annual Report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Covering the Period July 1, 1962-June 30, 1963, Submitted August 26, 1963 1

VII-4

1

THE STATUS OF "A SERIES OF QUIET TALKS" BETWEEN ARAB AND ISRAEL LEADERS CONCERNED WITH THE PALESTINE REFUGEE PROBLEM: Twenty-first Progress Report of the U.N. Conciliation Commission for Palestine, Covering the Period December 8, 1962-October 31, 1963, Submitted November 1, 1963 2

1. In the period since the submission of its twentieth progress report on 7 December 1962, the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine has given continuing and serious attention to how it might best fulfil the Assembly's mandate to achieve progress on the Palestine refugee problem, as expressed most recently in General Assembly resolution 1856 (XVII) of 20 December 1962.*

2. The Commission early in 1963 held the first of several meetings to determine how it should proceed to carry out the request of the General Assembly. Taking into account the Commission's intensive efforts during the past year, the United States suggested that, as a member of the Commission, it might initiate a series of quiet talks with the parties concerned-Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the United Arab Republic. It was proposed that the five Governments concerned should be approached at a high level and without preconditions as to the nature of the eventual solution of the problem. The Commission agreed to this approach, and has been kept generally informed of the progress of these talks with Arab and Israel leaders during the past spring and summer.

3. Recently, the United States informed the Commission that, in its opinion, the talks had been useful. All sides had shown goodwill, a desire to achieve progress on the refugee problem, and a desire to continue the talks, which are not yet completed. The Commission noted these views, expressed appreciation for the efforts made in the conduct of these talks, and requested that it continue to be kept informed of their progress. The Commission, expressing confidence that every effort will be made in the continuation of such talks to

1U.N. doc. A/5513. See also post, doc. VII-5.

U.N. doc. A/5545.

Text in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1962, pp. 757-760. 4 Text ibid., pp. 765–766.

advance the wishes of the General Assembly expressed in resolution 1856 (XVII), proposes to report to the General Assembly after the completion of such talks."

4. On 31 January 1963, the Commission accepted with deep regret the resignation of its Special Representative, Mr. Joseph E. Johnson. In submitting his letter of resignation because of "compelling personal commitments", Mr. Johnson expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to "attempt to contribute to a solution of the problem of the Arab refugees, whose tragedy has become increasingly apparent during these past fifteen years".

IDENTIFICATION AND VALUATION PROGRAMME

5. In its twentieth progress report the Commission, after explaining that the task of computing the value of each owner's holdings and the preparation of an index of owners' names was the most logical stage of work following completion of the valuation of individual parcels of immovable property, stated that in its opinion any compensation operation would be facilitated by completion of this task which was begun in 1962.

6. At its 353rd meeting on 9 January 1963, the Commission decided to request the Secretary-General to provide the necessary staff and facilities to enable this task to be completed during 1963. The Secretary-General agreed to the Commission's request.

7. The land expert in charge of its Technical Office has reported to the Commission that the substantive work on this programme is largely completed and that statistical summaries will be completed by the end of the year, as was forecast in the Commission's twentieth progress report. Consequently, on 31 December 1963 the staff engaged in this project will be released.

8. However, additional technical arrangements will be required to make easier later use of the information developed in the course of the identification and evaluation programme. The land expert has been instructed to take the necessary steps to this end prior to 1 April 1964.

RELEASE OF ARAB REFUGEE BANK ACCOUNTS BLOCKED IN ISRAEL AND

TRANSFER OF SAFE DEPOSIT AND SAFE CUSTODY ITEMS

9. During the period since the submission of the Commission's last progress report, the processing of applications for the release of bank

"A letter of Nov. 12, 1963, from the Representatives of Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the United Arab Republic at the U.N., to the Chairman of the Special Political Committee of the U.N. General Assembly (Haseganu) stated in part the following:

"... we are authorized to declare that our Governments are not prepared to undertake any talks of any nature with the Conciliation Commission, on the basis of the general outline set out in the report. In the same manner, we should like to reiterate that, as in the past, our Governments will be ready to hold discussions with the Conciliation Commission with a view, strictly and exclusively, to implementing paragraph 11 of resolution 194 (III)." (U.N. doc. A/SPC/91.)

accounts of refugees and absentee owners has continued in accordance with established procedure. Full current figures on this operation and on the transfer of safe deposit and safe custody items, which has also proceeded during this period, were not available at the time of preparation of the present report and will be released when received.

VII-5

UNITED STATES CALL FOR A SOLUTION OF THE PALESTINE REFUGEE PROBLEM THROUGH THE "QUIET ENDEAVORS OF MEN OF VISION AND GOOD WILL": Statement Made by the U.S. Representative (Cook) in the Special Political Committee of the U.N. General Assembly, November 8, 1963 (Excerpt)

The Palestine Arab refugee debate has engendered as many bitter charges and counter charges, as many angry words, as much vituperation as any issue which comes before this body. But for all that-a solution still eludes us. The rights of the refugees will never be obtained through fiery oratory. Neither can these rights be thrust aside by angry rejoinder. We believe the solution of the problem will be found, as the United States Representative said last year, "in the quiet endeavors of men of vision and good will patiently working out, detail by detail, a procedure for fulfilling insofar as possible the desires of the refugees while protecting the legitimate concerns of the interested states."7

On December 20, 1962, the General Assembly adopted resolution 1856 which expressed "its thanks to the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine for its efforts to find a way to achieve progress on the Palestine Arab refugee problem pursuant to Paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 194 (III)," and requested "the Commission to continue its endeavors with the member states directly concerned." It also extended the life of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees until June 30, 1965. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of this resolution, 100 to 0 with 2 abstentions. In adopting this moderately-worded resolution, the Assembly, in our opinion, acted with realism and good judgment.

Early this year, the Palestine Conciliation Commission held the first of several meetings to consider how it could best proceed towards fulfilling the request of the General Assembly. At length it was decided that the United States, as a member of the Palestine Conciliation Commission, should initiate talks with the parties principally concerned, Israel and the four Arab host countries, Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and the United Arab Republic. Such talks

U.S.-U.N. press release 4293.

, Text in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1962, pp. 760-764. Text ibid., pp. 765-767.

"Text in A Decade of American Foreign Policy: Basic Documents, 1941-49, pp. 851-853.

were held, and we have kept the Palestine Conciliation Commission informed.

Parenthetically, we regret statements made in this Committee challenging the accuracy of certain passages in the PCC report.10 We do not wish to make a major issue of this matter but it would be wrong if we did not at least reiterate that our understanding of events described in these statements is different.

Our actions here in the Assembly should, we believe, have as their primary objective the development of the best possible atmosphere conducive to progress in future discussions.

We believe progress can best be made on the basis of the general approach laid down in last year's resolution. As noted earlier, the United States considers that resolution moderate and sensible, and is convinced this body acted wisely in adopting it.

We hope that this General Assembly will not see a revival of certain resolutions with which we have had to deal in the past, resolutions which probably could not be adopted, and which if adopted, could not now lead to any practical, constructive result. We are pleased to note that both sides have shown a degree of willingness to exercise restraint on the introduction of contentious resolutions. We trust the wisdom of this course of action will become increasingly clear as the debate moves forward.

I would like now to discuss briefly the report of the CommissionerGeneral of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. First, my Delegation is pleased at the tone and content of this year's report which concentrates on the purposes and operations of this great humanitarian endeavor in the Near East. We would call attention especially to the parts of the report which discuss the encouraging progress made during the past three years in expanding and improving educational facilities for refugee youth. We regard this progress in education and vocational training as of very great importance and we approve UNRWA's future objectives in this field insofar as they are attainable. We also note with satisfaction the many improvements which have been made in refugee health and welfare services. We are gratified at the Agency's Report of a $900,000 reduction in relief costs in 1962.

At the same time, however, we are reassured by the evidence in the report that UNRWA's laudable desire for improved educational, health, welfare and other services is carefully balanced by the realization of UNRWA's financial problems. In this connection, we note the statement: "In general UNRWA is aware of the pressure for overall economies which exist within the contributing countries and will strive to increase the proportion of available funds devoted to educational purposes by the elimination, if necessary through the introduction of new policies and methods, of any relief provided to those not genuinely in need of it." The United States, as the major contributor to UNRWA, will look forward with interest to such plans

10 Supra.

" Cited ante as title VII-3.