March 6, 1974

Brit Pay Bd's proposed raise of 35% for striking coal miners comes at time when Prime Min Harold Wilson named his new Cabinet; apptmts are: Michael Foot, Employment Sec, James Callaghan, Foreign Sec, Denis Healey, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Roy Harris Jenkins, Home Sec, Peter Shore, Trade Min, Anthony Wedgewood Benn, Indus Min, and Harold Lever, financial and econ adviser (M)

White House attys are preparing 2-pronged defense against implication that Pres Nixon may not have opposed hush money payments to Watergate burglars; sources say attys are ready to argue that Nixon did use phrase in course of conversation to effect that 'it would be wrong'; say that although Nixon used it in context of proposal to award exec clemency to burglars, he was also conveying his belief that awarding of hush money would be wrong; say attys are also prepared to say that payment of $75,000 shortly after Mar 21 meeting between H R Haldeman, Nixon and John W Dean 3d to burglar E Howard Hunt Jr was set in motion before Mar 21 and had no connection with that meeting; meeting discussed; White House deputy press sec Gerald L Warren says Nixon called Haldeman to congratulate latter on his 25th anniv; does not say whether indictments were discussed (M)

Mar 6: Arab diplomatic sources say Mar 10 meeting of Arab oil mins in Libya holds out strong prospects for relaxation of Arab oil restrictions, including embargo against US; there are indications of continuing doubts in some Arab govts about complete abandonment of 'oil weapon' until some progress is made on Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab territories; key to what is decided in Libya on embargo and oil-production cutbacks is expected to be position taken by Syria, which is in 1st stage of negotiating troop-separation agreement with Israel on Golan hts; Syrian Air Marshal Naji Jamil flew to Kuwait on Mar 4 with message from Syrian Pres Assad to Kuwaiti ruler Sheik Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah; Egypt has spearheaded drive, with support of Saudi Arabia, for lifting embargo against US as sign of recognition by Arabs of efforts of Sec Kissinger to bring about peace settlement in Middle East; Kuwaiti Min Abdel Rahman al-Atiqi says conditions laid down for ending embargo and cutbacks 'have not been met even partially,' int; conditions that Arabs established for ending oil weapon are complete withdrawal by Israel from occupied Arab territories and 'full recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people' (M)

Sol Hurok, one of the world's foremost impresarios, died yesterday afternoon of a massive heart attack at the age of 85.

What is believed to be oldest song in the world is played, Mar 5, on only known reproduction of Sumerian lyre, dating back to 2,000 BC, from copy of inscription in Hurrian language on a tablet written in cuneiform signs; played at Univ of Calif at Berkeley; performance is culmination of 15 yrs of research by Prof Anne D Kilmer; musical text on tablets unearthed by French Archaeologists in early '50s near city of Ras Shamra on Syrian coast; Kilmer deciphered symbols in '72; song is love song of sorts, ode to Pantheon of gods and goddesses; discovery proves Western music is about 1,400 older than previously known and dates back to ancient Near-Eastern civilization of at least 2d millenium BC; Prof Richard L Crocker comments; por; tablet illus (L)