PLOT AGAINST HUSSEIN?

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28440, 21 November 1957, Page 12

PLOT AGAINST HUSSEIN?

London Paper’s Report

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m. LONDON, Nov. 19. Picked Syrian gunmen trained by a Russian terrorist were preparing to assassinate King Hussein, the “Daily Mail” said today. (

Some of the Syrian gunmen had arrived in Jordan and were miqgling with crowds in Amman and Jerusalem plotting the King’s every move and the best moment to strike, the. “Daily Mail” said.

Their arrival coincided with a viciously stepped-up campaign by terrorists and propagandists under the orders of President Nasser of Egypt, it said. This campaign aimed at undermining the proWestern Governments in Jordan and Lebanon and at extending President Nasser’s influence in Saudi Arabia.

In Lebanon alone, this special terrorist group had kidnapped a . prominent Syrian, politician and 1 murdered andthe’r, the “Daily Mail” said. They had also assassinated two Right-wing newspaper editors and had seriously wounded a third. The Russian terrorist, Colonel Azenoff, had arrived in Damascus with one of the first consignments of Russian arms. He was a Russian of Bulgarian origin with a successful record of prewar sabotage in Bulgaria, the “Daily Mail” said. King Hussein was his own worst enemy when it came to self-pro-tection, the paper added. He had reckless courage which matched his skill as a jet pilot and racing driver. He was said to be irked by security precautions and was becoming increasingly careless in his movements. The big question, “When?” was now almost the 1 only topic in Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, Aleppo, Bagdad and points further south in the Persian Gulf, the “Daily Mail” said.