LONDON AIRPORT; EBAN INTERVIEWED. (SOF).



TRANSCRIPT: REPORTER: "THE RUSSIANS ARE REPORTED TO HAVE COME UP WITH SOME NEW PEACE PROPOSALS....WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THEM?"



EBAN: "WELL, THEY ARE NOT NEW, THEY ARE NOT PROPOSALS AND THEY ARE NOT ABOUT PEACE. THEY ARE NOT NEW BECAUSE THESE IDEAS ARE IDENTICAL WITH THOSE THAT WERE PUT FORWARD LAST NOVEMBER IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL AND WERE REJECTED AS INADEQUATE AND UNBALANCED NOT ONLY BY ISRAEL BUT BY THE MAJORITY OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL. IT'S NOT A PEACE PROPOSAL - IT'S A PROPOSAL, ACCORDING TO WHAT I HAVE READ, WHEREBY ISRAELI WOULD RENOUNCE THE CONDITIONS FOR HER SECURITY WITHOUT THE ARAB STATES HAVING TO MAKE PEACE. BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING THERE ABOUT THE ARAB STATE HAVING TO MAKE PEACE NOR IS THERE ANYTHING THERE UNDER WHICH THERE WOULD BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO FORMULATE AND TO DETERMINE SECURED AGREED BOUNDARIES. THERE IS NO INDICATION THAT THEY WOULD BE UNDER A CERTAIN........HER NAVIGATION RIGHTS. THERE IS NOTHING THERE ABOUT THE GENUINE RECIPROCAL RECOGNITION OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF STATES AND THE FINAL ...........OF THE 20-YEAR-OLD CONFLICT AND FINALLY, I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THEY ARE PROPOSALS BECAUSE AS FAR AS WE KNOW THEY HAVE NO OFFICIAL STATUS. MY LAST REMARK IS THAT THE SOVIET UNION, HAVING HAD SUCH A LARGE PART IN CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST IN 1967, AND HAVING RECENTLY TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT THE LIBERTIES AND SOVEREIGNTY OF A SMALL STATE IN EUROPE, IS NOT REGARDED IN ISRAEL AS THE NATURAL SOURCE FOR PEACE PROPOSALS TO BE TO THE MIDDLE EAST.



REPORTER: "IS ISRAELI THE NATURAL SOURCE FOR SUCH PROPOSALS?"



EBAN: "ONE OF THE NATURAL SOURCES BECAUSE IT IS ISRAEL AND THE ARAB STATES THAT HAVE TO LIVE TOGETHER AND THEREFORE ATTENTION SHOULD BE GIVEN ESPECIALLY TO COUNTRIES OF THE AREA. PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST MUST EMANATE FROM THE SOVEREIGN WILL OF THE NATIONS OF THAT AREA. THE MIDDLE EAST IS NO LONGER AN INTERNATIONAL PROTECTORATE. IT IS AN AREA DOMINATED BY THE INDEPENDENCE OF SOVEREIGN STATES. IT IS THEY AND WE WHO MUST BUILD THE NEW PEACE TOGETHER."




Initials JSU/V/JF/PF



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER ABBA EBAN SAID IN LONDON TODAY (FRIDAY) THAT HIS COUNTRY DID NOT REGARD THE SOVIET UNION AS A NATURAL SOURCE FOR PEACE PROPOSALS FOR THE MIDDLE EAST.

MR. EBAN, WHO ARRIVED FROM PARIS ON HIS WAY TO NEW YORK, WAS COMMENTING AT THE AIRPORT ON A REPORTED NEW SOVIET PLAN FOR AN ARAB-ISRAELI PEACE SETTLEMENT......