United Nations truce chief Maj. Gen. E.L.M. Burns today rejected Israel’s demand for a UN investigation of Egyptian troop concentrations near the Israel border. He suggested that UN observers be given the right to investigate both sides. Both parties, he said, had at a different times contended that the other was concentrating troops and arms in excess of armistice agreement limits.
In a communique issued tonight. Gen. Burns demanded the introduction of a “system of periodic visits” by United Nations observers in the demilitarized zones, with complete freedom of movement in these areas. The communique was issued following a meeting this morning with Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett who had asked a UN investigation of Egyptian troop concentrations in the El Auja and El Arish areas. There is no point in investigating one side, Gen. Burns’ communique asserted.
Commenting on the UN communique, a Foreign Ministry spokesman pointed out tonight that there had been no Egyptian counter-complaints alleging Israeli troop concentrations along the border. “To the best of our knowledge,” the spokesman said, “there never were such complaints.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
