§ Sir Ian Orr-Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will now propose to the United Nations that observers in the north of Israel and neighbouring Arab countries be asked to report on the construction work now being undertaken to divert the Jordan waters, in order to determine whether the 60 per cent. of water allocated to these Arab States under the Johnston Plan is likely to be exceeded by these schemes.
§ Mr. George ThomsonSuch a proposal would best be put to the Security Council, which has not been asked by any of the States most concerned to consider the Jordan Waters dispute. If the Council 111W were to do so, a proposal on these lines might well be helpful and I will bear it in mind. However, as I said in reply to a similar question on 26th April, while we will always be ready to consider any way in which we can help towards a settlement, I do not think that any useful purpose would be served by Her Majesty's Government taking an initiative at this stage.