Bitter Clash In Arab Council

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31239, 10 December 1966, Page 15

Bitter Clash In Arab Council

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

CAIRO, December 9. The Arab Defence Council last night adjourned until today after a stormy session marked by a bitter clash between the Jordanian Foreign Minister and the head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

The council has been called to try to apportion specific military responsibility among Arab nations and the unified Arab command in the event of new Israeli attacks against Arab villages. The Jordainian Foreign Minister, Mr Akram Zuaiter, and the head of the P.L.0., Mr Ahmed Shukairy, left the Arab League Council chamber separately at various times last night and were seen to pace the corridors. Observers presumed they were trying to cool down their tempers. Precise causes of the clash between Mr Zuaiter and Mr Shukairy were not immediately known. Meanwhile, Iraq tightened

tension in the Middle East yesterday with reports that it was preparing to send troops into Syria to face the Israeli army. Baghdad Radio said an Iraqi military delegation would visit Syria to confer on positions where the Iraqi troops could be stationed along the Syrian Israeli frontier. Earlier, the Iraqi Chief of Staff said Iraqi forces had been moved to the border of Iraq and Syria, awaiting orders from the Arab unified command to join “the battle against Israel.” Baghdad has made several similar gestures in the past but there have never been confirmed reports of Iraqi troops actually entering Syria.