Tension Remains High In Jordan; Warning To U.S.

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32324, 16 June 1970, Page 17

Tension Remains High In Jordan; Warning To U.S.

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter— Copyright; AMMAN, June 15. Two bursts of machine-gun fire, solitary and unexplained, last night shattered the calm of the Jordanian capital which has not yet recovered from a week of bloody fighting with its cost of 1000 dead and wounded.

The bursts were heard in a northern suburb of Amman and were followed by the sight of tracer bullets lighting up the sky.

They were an indication of the tension that continues in Amman despite repeated assurances that the Palestinian commandos and the Government of King Hussein were doing their best to restore the situation to normal. Political talks between the Government and commandos continued today as joint committees set up to implement a cease-fire between Jordanian troops and the commandos and help bring things back to normal investigated last night’s shooting and an incident ion Friday might have led to the resumption of full-scale fighting. The attempted killing on Friday of Major-General Mashour Haditha, the Jordanian Army Chief of Staff, who is both close to the King and respected by the commandos, came after reports of an alleged mutiny by a Jordanian tank unit said to be opposed to the King's dismissal of his two senior Army commanders under Fedayeen pressure. Sudan is expected today to join other Arab countries in pressing for a fool-proof settlement between the commandos and the Government. Mr Abdul-Aziz Al-Nasri, the Sudanese Ambassador in Beirut, will arrive in Amman today with letters from Major-

General Jaafar Mohamed ElNimeiry, the Sudanese leader, to King Hussein and Mr Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian guerrilla leader. Mr Arafat yesterday blamed the United States for the Jordan crisis and charged that United States imperialism was aspiring to replace British and French imperialism in the Middle East. “Second Vietnam” Referring at a press conference to reports of the alerting of the 82nd United States airborne division during the crisis, he said: “If the United States thinks of sending the 82nd Division, we say they are welcome to a second Vietnam.” King Hussein was originally due to leave Amman for Bonn today on an official visit to West Germany, but his visit was postponed because of the crisis. He was to have held talks with West German leaders on relations between the two countries. Jordan is one of a few Arab countries which have resumed diplomatic relations with Bonn after cooling of the atmosphere between West Germany and the Arab countries when Bonn recognised the Tel Aviv Government in 1965.

In Lebanon, new commando control measures take effect today amid an undercurrent of unease at possible fresh confrontations between the Lebanese Government and the guerrillas despite an expressed desire by both sides to avoid friction.

Government and Fedayeen sources both said that they were anxious there should be no trouble over the Government order banning unlicensed carrying of arms in Lebanese towns and villages and firing across the border into Israel. But the Interior Minister (Mr Kamal Jumblatt) said that there were small commando groups which might not obey the restrictions, announced last month after a rash of guerrilla attacks on Israel from South Lebanon which brought heavy Israeli retaliation on the border area.

There was also some concern about the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, led by Dr George Habash, and at present riding high in Arab esteem after its successful role in last week’s crisis between the commandos and Jordanian troops in Amman. But a spokesman for the P.F.L.P. in Amman said yesterday that his organisation would observe the rule against the unlicensed carrying of arms. Firing Across Border He refused to comment, however, on the ban on firing across the border. Mr Jumblatt, who has been the main government negotiator with the commandos, said in Kuwait yesterday on the eve of his return to Beirut that the Government was in complete understanding with the major commando.

organisations and did not expect major problems. He stressed that possible disobedience of smaller commando groups was not a major problem at a time when the leaders of both sides in Beirut were anxious to avoid a new confrontation of the kind that has hit Lebanon three times in the last 14 months.