Egypt Has No Right to Belligerent Status, Dulles Declares

Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said today that he believed that under the terms of the Israel-Egyptian armistice agreement, Egypt did not have the right to exercise belligerency. The Secretary of State also told his press conference that he did not think the mission of the United Nations Emergency Force had been completed and that Egypt could not alter its consent to the presence of the force until its mission had been completed.

Mr. Dulles reaffirmed that it is the intention of the United States to send ships to the Israeli port of Elan through the Strait of Tiran. He declared that he was weighing the possibility of asking the International Court of Justice at The Hague for an advisory decision on the status of the straits.

He said in effect that the UNEF is authorized to remain in being, despite Egypt’s objection, until there are assurances hostilities will not be renewed. He declared he does not believe Egypt has a right to withdraw arbitrarily the consent it gave UNEF until the force’s mission is completed. Since there is no assurance that hostilities will not be renewed, Mr. Dulles said, the UNEF’s mandage is not exhausted. He said in his concept, the UNEF role is not exhausted unless there are more assurances that belligerent rights will not be exercised. There is no assurance of tranquility yet to indicate that the initial mission is accomplished.

CALLS ON ISRAEL TO ACCEPT U. N. E. F. TROOPS ON ITS SOIL

Mr. Dulles asserted that the chances for peace would be improved if Israel agreed to the stationing of part of the UNEF force on its side of the armistice line. This, he said, would be conducive to tranquility and was authorized by a February 27 United Nations resolution. He said he had discussed this matter with Israel Foreign Minister Golda Meir.

Secretary Dulles said that under the armistice agreement, Egypt has no right to exercise belligerent rights. This belief was the basis of a 1951 UN Security Council decision on Israel’s right to use the Suez Canal. Mr. Dulles said the United States voted then for this principle and adheres to it now.

He said it was important to obtain a ruling on Israel’s Akaba Gulf navigation rights from the International Court of Justice at The Hague. He said an advisory decision was preferable to a ruling emerging as a result of an incident. The United States will ship to Israel via the gulf, Mr. Dulles indicated. It will consider the gulf an international waterway unless and until a contrary ruling is made by the judicial authorities, Mr. Dulles said.

The Secretary of State made known that there was no agreement at Bermuda on what Britain and the United States might do in the event of various Middle East exigencies. But, he said, it was now more likely there would be a common policy.

“But,” said Mr. Dulles, “the contingencies that we had to deal with were so varied and so unpredictable that it seemed to be rather unprofitable to try to reach a formal agreement as to what we would do in any one of a score, perhaps, of possible variations of future development.” His view of the Middle East today was one of “cautious optimism.” He said he had not received an interim report from UN Secretary General Hammarskjold, but has had some “inkling” of developments there from the U.S. Ambassador in Cairo.

EGYPT FAILS TO COOPERATE IN PEACE EFFORTS, SEN. JOHNSON SAYS

In the Senate today, Democratic leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas reiterated disappointment in Egypt for its failure to cooperate in efforts to seek a peaceful solution in the Middle East. He said that Israel had met one of the preconditions for working out a peaceful solution by withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and the mouth of the Gulf of Akaba. But, referring to Egypt, Sen. Johnson said the preconditions to peace have not been met.

“Most of us,” he said, “have now become resigned to the realization that the Middle Eastern situation is far from a solution.”