DISMISSAL OF GLUBB

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27912, 8 March 1956, Page 13

DISMISSAL OF GLUBB

King Hussein’s Statement (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) 'Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW YORK, March 6. Kin? Hussein of Jordan said in an interview today that Lieuten-ant-General John Glubb, the dismissed head of the Arab Legion, “remained deaf to my repeated orders.’’ according to a United Press dispatch from Amman. The report said that King Hussein said. “He repeatedly preached sermons to the officers and tribal chiefs asserting that Israel was stronger than the Arabs, and that Arab diplomacy was unwise and foolish.’’ The young King described his dismissal of General Glubb as a “surgical operation,” and denied that it was meant as a “slap in the face” at Britain. He rejected reports that the ouster was the first step in a move away from alliance with Britain. King Hussein’s personal Chief of Cabinet. Benjat bet Talhouni. went a step further and denied that the Egyptian Prime Minister. Colonel Gama! Abdel Nasser, or King Saud of Saudi Arabia, had any influence in the dismissal. “I have today instructed my government in writing that General Glubb’s ousting does not change the existing relations between Jordan and Britain, that the remaining British officers in the Arab Legion will continue in this job as previously and in fulfilment of their existing contracts,’’ King Hussein said. “Since my assumption of constitutional powers in May. 1953, until recently. I had repeatedly warned General Glubb that he should reform the Army’s administration, eliminate corruption and the spoils system, and help strengthen the Army’s morale, which was continuously weakened by General Glubb himself,’’ the King said. The King said that General Glubb had proposed since the summer of 1954 that Jordan should evacuate the major part of the western bank of the Jordan river in case of Israeli aggression. “I repeatedly asked General Glubb to draw up a defensive plan since we wanted to defend every inch of Jordan territory, and could not accept the theory of evacuation.’’ he said. “But General Glubb remained deaf to my repeated orders.’’