Syria accused of treachery

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32407, 21 September 1970, Page 15

Syria accused of treachery

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) BEIRUT, September 20. King Hussein today charged Syria with “treacherous aggression” against Jordan by sending an armoured force across the border during the night and accused it of betraying the Arab cause in the 1967 June war with Israel.

In cables sent to other Arab Heads of State and broadcast by Amman Radio, the King said that the Syrian armoured thrust, estimated to be in brigade strength, was made “while Jordan was open to Israeli aggression from the occupied (Syrian) Golan Heights.”

The attack, which the radio reported was beaten off by Jordanian tanks at 5 a-m„ was a

new link in the premediated plot and an invitatation to Israel to achieve its ambitions, the King said. King Hussein reminded his fellow Heads of State of the “treason of the Damascus rulers who handed over the Golan Heights to Israel (in June, 1967) without actually

taking part in the war.” Earlier, Amman Radio broadcast the text of a message from the King to President Nasser in which, without actually naming Syria, he made the most detailed and outspoken condemnation of

Syrian behaviour in the 1967 war ever delivered by an Arab Head of State. Referring to the foreign plot which Jordan has alleged is behind the upsurge of fighting between his troops and the Palestine commandos the King said: “The Jordanian Army has today become the target for enemies, even from a certain direction which did not enter into the Palestine war which drew you and us into battle, then surrendered its land to the enemy without fighting.” Arab critics of Syria have said in the past that its behaviour in May, 1967. was the direct cause of the June war and that its Army then abandoned the strategic Golan Heights to the Israeli forces l without a real fight. But this charge has never been made openly at such a high level before. The Jordanian Government had requested an urgent

meeting of the Arab League Council in Cairo to discuss

its allegations that Syria has moved troops into Jordan, the authoritative Egyptian newspaper, "Al Ahram,” said today.

No decision has yet been made whether to convene the 14-nation league. The council has met twice in emergency session over the last two weeks, and vainly appealed for a cease-fire in Jordan earlier this week. Meanwhile in Washington the United States Secretary of Defence (Mr, Melvin Laird) said that the United States was closely watching any signs of military intervention

in Jordan by outside governments such as Syria and Iraq. Mr Laird, who spoke at a press conference yesterday at nearby Warrenton, Virginia, refused to be pinned down on contingency plans for any United States involvement in Jordan. But he' said it was valid

to assume American troops would not go into Jordan as long as the Army there had security under control. President Nixon was being kept fully informed of the Jordan developments at his Camp David mountain retreat near Washington. Officials said that the United States was keeping a close watch on reports such as those from Cairo that Jordan had complained of Syrian troops crossing the border to help the commandos. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has threatened to kill all Americans in the Middle East if United States troops landed in the area. “Every American and every American interest will be a target,” said a statement from the Palestinian guerrilla group, which hijacked four international airliners last week and is still holding 54 Western hostages in Jordan.

“No American will be safe if there is a United States

military intervention,” the statement said. N.Z.P.A.-Reuter reported that the front charged that American intervention was being planned because the “stooge regime in Jordan is crumbling.”