Southern Lebanon ARAB TROOPS SUGGESTED

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33577, 4 July 1974, Page 15

Southern Lebanon ARAB TROOPS SUGGESTED

I Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

CAIRO, July 3.

Proposals to station Arab troops in southern Lebanon to defend it against Israeli attacks were expected today at a meeting of Arab Defence and Foreign Ministers, informed sources said.

The meeting of the 20nation Joint-Arab Defence Council was called by Kuwait after recent Israeli airstrikes on Palestinian refugee camps in reprisal for commando activity in Israel.

Observers believe that Lebanon — which has denied that guerrillas mount raids on Israel from within its borders — will he reluctant to accede to such proposals.

Arab troops in Lebanon might invite further Israeli raids and in the past the Lebanese have made more use of diplomacy than of weapons.

Diplomatic sources in Beirut said that the Lebanese Prime Minister (Mr Takieddin Al-solh), who heads his country’s delegation, would ask fellow Arabs to boycott the Geneva peace conference if Israeli attacks continue. Egypt and Jordan attended the opening session of the conference last December but Syria, although invited, stayed away. A threat by all three to

boycott Geneva would exert pressure on the United States and the Soviet Union, as sponsors of the conference, to stop Israeli attacks. The sources said that Lebanon could also be expected to urge Arab countries to reinvoke the oil weapon, used during and after the October war against countries siding with Israel, if the attacks continue.

The Palestinians attending the council meeting are expected to support any Lebanese request for the use of the oil weapon.

Picasso, Monet passed in

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON, July 3. The London art world received its second jolt in two days yesterday when a Picasso painting billed as the highlight of an important art auction failed to reach its reserve price and was withdrawn from the sale.

The painting, a Cubist work entitled “Buste de Femme (Femard),” was withdrawn at just* over £300,000.

The previous day a Monet work, “Les Bords de la Seine, Argentenil,” failed to reach its reserve. The same painting fetched £230,000 in 1970.

The Monet painting was one of six Impressionist works withdrawn at the sale.