dated July 3, 1951: Ceasefire parleys

Gen. Mathew Ridgway, United Nations Supreme Commander, was expected to say ``yes'' to the Communist ceasefire proposals very soon. His advisers were still conferring with Washington on the details of the current fourth move towards halting the one-year old Korean fighting. The Communists had suggested a ceasefire conference at the bomb-levelled town of Kaesong, in the only Communist-held territory south of the 38th Parallel. Gen. Ridgway had suggested meeting in the Danish hospital ship Jutlandia in Wonson harbour, 90 miles north of the Parallel. The general impression among American staff officers here was that Kaesong would be acceptable as a meeting place after making sure that the area was cleared of mines. Kaesong had been razed to the ground in battles along the Parallel in 1950: it was the first town captured by the Communists, when they swept south then.

While the U.N. officers in Tokyo and U.S. officials in Washington were closely studying the Communist proposals, fighting continued to rage at the fronts, though the intensity appeared scaled down.

In the temporary South Korean capital of Pusan, Dr. Syngman Rhee's Government discussed the armistice development at an emergency State Council. A Government spokesman said he did not know if there would be a statement on the suggestion for the talks to be held at Kaesong.

Oil in troubled waters

An American effort in Teheran to get oil exports from Persia to be resumed seemed destined to fail. The U.S. Ambassador, Dr. Henry Grady, had sought to gain Premier Mossadeq to agree to a compromise formula, which would have removed the export bottleneck. The formula was for oil-tanker captains to sign forms showing their cargo as received from the National Iranian Oil Co., but with a proviso that this step would not prejudice the rights of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Dr. Mossadeq refused to consider the scheme. He said if tanker captains avoided making payment for the supplies to the nationalised company, ``we might as well give the refinery a holiday.'' Dr. Grady said he would now refer the matter to the U.S. State Department.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Miscellaneous
Previous : Standard test of right conduct
Next     : Weather