Egyptians ready to reclaim Suez town

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33444, 28 January 1974, Page 19

Egyptians ready to reclaim Suez town

CAIRO. January 27. • Egyptian troops today were poised to reclaim the town of Suez, the most devastated of Egypt's canal cities, when the first stage of Israeli withdrawal is completed al noon tomorrow. Their first task will he mine-clearing, am! then Government employees and reporters will be allowed to visit Suez for the first time in three months on Tuesday, a military spokesman said.

Cairo papers quoted the! Suez provincial leadership as, putting priority on bakers' and grocers a? a first step towards restoring normal life. Thousands of new university graduates have signed on to do a year’s work in rebuilding schemes. A Deputy Premier. Mr

Abdel Aziz Hegazy. said the. [reconstruction and rehabilitation projects for the canal area would be given urgent attention. After meeting a French economic delegation yesterday, he -aid Egypt would welcome French participation and suggested a giant Franco-Egyptian project along the lines of the [Soviet-assisted Aswan high (dam. although he was not i specific. When Israel ends its withdrawal from Suez and the Adabyia and Ataka mountains area and the Cairo-: (Suez road is reopened, the; (Egyptian Third Army will be; [reunited again. i Some 20.000 men from this; |army were cut off on the! eastern bank of the Suez; [Canal when the Israelis managed to establish their bulge! west of the canal and to cut the 134-kilometre (84-mile) [road to Suez. I The second stage of the; (Israeli withdrawal will start ■tomorrow from the area north , of Suez to an area south ot the Deversoir. where the (Israelis broke through to the! ■west during the October war The newspaper. “Al ! Ahram” said this stage would (take eight days. The Israeli cabinet will turn [its attention to the northern’

front and possible moves towards talks with Syria. Israeli military observers said that a three-hour artillery duel with Syna yesterday, in which three Israeli soldiers were wounded, nay similarly signifx Syrian efforts to keep attention focused on the fragile cease-fire in the Golan Heights. It was the first incident of anv kind on either front for more than a week, although [observers noted that snowstorms had raged in the northern region and the weather only cleared up yesterday.