Reports from Syria today indicated that the Damascus regime has ordered commanders of the El Fatah commando organization to halt temporarily sabotage raids into Israel.
The reports said that the Syrian regime also had ordered the El Fatah not to undertake any new initiatives without advance approval from the Syrian authorities. However, observers here said it was not yet known whether the shaky Damascus regime’s orders would be accepted by the commando organization.
The observers said that, while the Syrians apparently were convinced that Israel would not engage in any reprisals at a time when Israel’s complaint against Syria on the El Fatah raids was before the United Nations Security Council, the Syrian regime had suddenly decided to curb El Fatah activities.
The Foreign Ministry maintained close contact here today with diplomats representing governments that are members of the Security Council, pressing for Council adoption of a resolution that would have sufficient moral value toward curbing further Syrian-backed terrorist raids. Such a resolution, if approved by a sufficient number of Council members, could affect Syria psychologically, it was felt here, even if the draft failed of formal adoption through a Soviet exercise of its Security Council veto.
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.
