Palestinian guerrillas battling Jordanian troops for the fourth day demanded the ouster of the commander-in-chief of the Jordanian Army, Maj. Gen. Sherif Nasser bin Jamil, uncle of King Hussein, and three other members of the royal circle whom they accused of conspiring with United States and other “imperialist” elements to destroy the Palestinian resistance movement. King Hussein claimed in a radio broadcast last night that the situation was returning to normal. But eyewitnesses arriving at Beirut Airport from Amman reported heavy fighting still going on. Some sources said the death toll on both sides was over 400. Guerrillas of the left-wing extremist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine continued to hold 84 foreigners, including 18 Americans hostage at the Inter- continental Hotel in Amman. They said they would not release them until King Hussein dismission the alleged conspirators. According to one report, the guerrillas threatened to blow up the hotel unless their ultimatum was met. Yesterday the guerrillas shot to death Maj. Robert P. Perry, 34, of Chicago, the military attache at the U.S. Embassy in Amman.
Jordan continued to be cut off from communications with the rest of the world, and reports emanating from Beirut and other Arab capitals gave a confusing picture of the situation there. Most of the fighting on the guerrilla side was attributed to the Popular Front and the equally militant Syrian-backed Al Salqa guerrillas. El Fatah, the largest of the Palestinian commando organizations, appeared determined to prevent the overthrow of the Hussein regime. King Hussein and El Fatah leader, Yassir Arafat issued a joint communique yesterday announcing that joint Army-guerrilla patrols would be activated to end the fighting. But an El Fatah spokesman later accused Jordanian forces of indiscriminately shelling Palestinian refugee camps, which have become guerrilla strongholds. El Fatah joined the other guerrilla groups in demanding that King Hussein dismiss his uncle, as commander-in-chief. An El Fatah radio broadcast named as alleged co-conspirators Maj. Gen. Zaid Ben-Shaker, commander of an armored division; Maj. Gen. Mohammed Rasoul al-Kallani, the former chief of security, and Salah Abu-Zaid, Minister of Information. It accused them of plotting to replace King Hussein on the throne with his younger brother, Crown Prince Hassan and called them “lackeys” of the Western powers.
MOST ARAB STATES RESTRAINED; EGYPT’S POSITION UNCLEAR; BIG POWERS ADOPT WATCHFUL ATTITUDE
Other guerrilla sources charged that “American imperialism in cooperation with international Zionism and hireling elements in Jordan is currently implementing a plan aimed at liquidating the Palestinian resistance movement and affirming Israeli occupation.” In his radio broadcast King Hussein said the fighting of the past few days was “the saddest time of my life.” He warned that “unless this sedition ends, destruction will come to all of us and to this country, and the wishes of the enemy will be fulfilled.” He declared it was a shame that the weapons of Arabs should be turned on other Arabs. Amman radio also broadcast messages King Hussein sent to President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Premier Moammar al-Qadhaffi of Libya, asserting that “the situation is improving very quickly.” Other Arab states have been restrained so far in their reaction to the events in Jordan. Maj. Gen. Ad-nan Abdel Jalil, commander of the 12,000-15,000 Iraqi troops stationed in Jordan, appealed for an end to the fighting but apparently ignored a guerrilla plea for military support. Baghdad radio warned yesterday that Iraq would “not stand idly by” if its border with Jordan and Syria were endangered. The Syrian government issued a similar warning. Both declared their full support of the Palestinian guerrillas. However, the commander of Saudi Arabian troops in Jordan was quoted by Amman radio as pledging support for the Jordanian Army.
The position of Egypt was unclear. Though the Cairo government is officially neutral, a stream of anti-Hussein incitement emanated from non-official broadcasting stations in Egypt yesterday. Cairo radio broadcast only official Jordanian government announcements until Wednesday night, when It started relaying guerrilla communiques. The Big Powers appeared to have adopted an attitude of watchful waiting in the Jordanian crisis. American diplomats conceded privately that the U.S. was at least morally committed to the preservation of the Hussein regime. But any overt move in that direction from Washington was seen as likely to trigger a Soviet reaction and ignite a new wave of anti-American violence in the Arab world, where support for the guerrilla movement is high. Unofficial Western sources were deeply concerned lest the overthrow of King Hussein and the ensuing chaos ignite the entire Middle East. Sources here recalled many past statements by Israeli leaders that Israel would act swiftly if any change in the status of Jordan threatened her security. Action by Israel, it is believed, would bring military action by Iraq and Syria. Egypt might welcome a new war over Jordan as a means of relieving Israeli pressures along the Suez Canal, sources here said.
The Soviet attitude remains unknown. In recent months Moscow has grown warmer toward the Palestinian guerrilla movement, and Yassir Arafat was an official guest in the Soviet capital last winter. There was no confirmation of subsequent claims by the guerrillas that they would receive military equipment from Russia. But considerable quantities of Soviet arms supplied to Egypt and Syria have found their way into guerrilla hands. King Hussein, though one of the few remaining pro-Western Arab rulers, has hinted on several occasions that Jordan might turn to Soviet Russia for arms that the West would not supply. Jordan also appears to be making overtures toward Communist China. It is reportedly considering the establishment of full diplomatic relations with Albania, the only overtly pro-Chinese Communist state in Europe. The Soviet Union has reportedly protested such a move, Peking has already concluded a deal to buy Jordanian phosphates and is outbidding the Russians in material backing for the Palestinian guerrillas.
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.
