U.N.O. PLANES DISAPPEAR IN PALESTINE

Grey River Argus, 18 February 1949, Page 5

U.N.O. PLANES DISAPPEAR IN PALESTINE

LONDON, Feb. 16

A United Nations Dakota airliner, which set out from Amman yesterday to search for a missing United Nations Consul aircraft has also disappeared. United Nations officials in Haifa declined to comment on the riddle of the missing planes, beyond saying that the matter “is very delicate and serious.” Nothing has been heard of the Consul aircraft since it left Beirut on the morning of February 14.

The Israeli and Egyptian Governments are nearing an armistice, said the Acting United Nations mediator Dr Bunche, according to the Associated Press Rhodes correspondent. He said that both sides have agreed on the major problems which .nearly caused a collapse of the negotiations a fortnight ago. The talks will end in a few days. Egyptian officials were still interfering with British ships, said MiHector McNeil, Minister of State. In a written reply to a House of Commons question, Mr McNeil said that the searching of ships .by the Egyptian authorities began in May of last year. A number of British ships had been detained in Egyptian ports, but in all cases brought without delay to the attention of the Government by the Ambassador or consular officers in Egypt, the Egyptian authorities had released them. DR. WEIZMANN PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL (Rec. 8.0) JERUSALEM, Feb. 17 The 74-year-old Dr Chaim Weizman, who last May was elected president of the Provisional Council of Israel, was to-day elected the first President of the new state.