President Gamal Abdel Nasser has proposed to Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold creation of a buffer zone one hundred yards deep around all of Israel’s land borders, to be patrolled by a force of 6, 000 United Nations guards, London newspapers reported today from Cairo. The proposed zone would be fifty yards within Israel territory and fifty yards in Arab territory.
President Nasser made this proposal during Mr. Hammarskjold’s recent visit to Cairo, the newspapers said. The London Daily Telegraph and the London Daily Mail quoted Emile Bustani, millionaire member of the Lebanese Parliament and a close friend of Nasser, as the source for their information.
The Egyptian dictator, according to this source, in his talks with the UN executive, emphasized four points: first, the Arabs have no aggressive intentions towards Israel and have given up “for the moment, ” their dream of “driving the Israelis into the sea”; second, he wants to prevent Israel’s occupation of the west bank of the Jordan River which he is convinced Israel will carry out the moment British troops are withdrawn; third, he is interested in peace for the Middle East and a United Nations buffer zone is the only way to prevent war; fourth, he is prepared to cooperate with the Lebanese regime after President Chamoun’s retirement.
M. Bustani quoted Nasser, according to the press reports to the effect that certain politicians in France, Britain and the United States were encouraging Israeli aggression. Nasser, he said, expressed the view that should Israel attack Jordan, war would be imminent.
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.
