Identical documents specifying the “limited forces zones” to be established within the framework of the Israeli-Syrian disengagement agreement have been signed separately by both sides. Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban signed the document on behalf of his government Friday and Syria’s Chief of Staff, Gen. Yussuf Shakur, signed in Damascus today. The documents will be exchanged through U.S. diplomatic channels.
The main disengagement accord which Israel and Syria signed in Geneva Friday contained only passing reference to the limited forces zones to be established on either side of the United Nations buffer zone that separates the two armies. As in the Israeli-Egyptian disengagement accord signed last Jan. 21, the subsidiary document contains the specifics of the arms limitations.
The zones specified are 25 kilometers deep on both sides of the buffer zone. Within the first ten kilometers, each side is permitted no more than 6,000 men, 75 tanks and 36 short-range artillery pieces. The first 20 kilometers must be clear of heavy artillery and the entire 25 kilometers clear of ground-to-air and ground-to-ground missiles.
1250-MAN UN FORCE
(A joint U.S. Soviet resolution creating the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) to supervise the Israeli-Syrian disengagement agreement was approved with a 13-0 vote in the Security Council Friday. Iraq and Chim did not participate in the voting. The force will consist of 1250 men to police the UN buffer Zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces.
(UNDO was established for an initial period of six months, subject to renewal by the Security Council. The resolution provided that UNDOF was set up under the Council’s authority, which was interpreted to mean it could not be pulled out without Council approval.
(Jacob Doron, the acting representative for Israel, voiced Israel’s “warmest appreciation and thanks” to Kissinger “for his untiring efforts in bringing about the conclusion of the agreement which was signed this morning in Geneva by representatives of Israel and Syria.”)
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