United States Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, held a luncheon on Wednesday (29 September) for Arab Foreign Minister attending the current session of the United Nations General Assembly.

SYNOPSIS: The luncheon was held at the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York and was well attended. It gave both Dr. Kissinger and the Arab Foreign Minister an opportunity to exchange ideas on the Middle East before the American Secretary of State addressed the General Assembly the next day. Dr. Kissinger suggested that a preparatory conference be held to discuss the structure of future Middle East peace negotiations. He said the United States was open to other suggestions. He added however, that whatever step were taken must be carefully prepared so that once the process began, the nations concerned would advance steadily towards agreement. The American Secretary of State declared that step by step negotiations over the past three years had brought the parties to a point where comprehensive solutions seemed possible.