London Times Says Mig Landings Stir Arab Suspicisions of Syria

The landing of two Syrian Air Force jets in Israel yesterday has stirred uneasiness in Arab capitals over the allegedly ambiguous role played by Syria since the June, 1967 Arab-Israel War and even in the last stages of that conflict, the “Diarist” wrote in today’s London Times. The columnist said that while Syria has taken the most belligerent and intransigent stand of all of the Arab countries involved in the Six-Day War, it is significant that there have been no raids by Syrians into Israeli territory and the few “battles” which the Syrians have reported proved to have been fictitious. While Syria is constantly preaching guerrilla warfare to “liberate” Palestine, it has forbidden terrorists raids into Israel from its territory and has imprisoned many Palestinian guerrilla leaders, the “Diarist” wrote.

He noted further that Syria refused to attend the Arab summit meeting at Khartoum in August, 1967, ostensibly because it would not sit down with “reactionaries” like Jordan and Saudi Arabia. He quoted the Beirut newspaper Al-Hawadithi which linked the arrest and imprisonment of the former Syrian Ambassador to France, Dr. Sami Al-Jundi, to an alleged threat by the latter to disclose details of a secret meeting that allegedly took place between Syrian authorities and Israel Foreign Minister Abba Eban in Paris a month before the Six-Day War. According to the paper, the Syrians agreed to forfeit their territory up to Quneitra if the Israelis promised to push no further. In support of that theory, the Lebanese newspaper cited the “swift fall of the ‘impenetrable’ Golan Heights and Damascus’ announcement of the fall of Quneitra some hours before the event,” the “Diarist” wrote.