Israel has lodged 156 complaints of alleged disengagement violations by Egypt and Syria since the disengagement accords were signed earlier this year, it was learned today. According to a senior source, a total of 93 complaints were made against Syria and 63 against Egypt.
Most of the complaints, especially those concerning Syrian actions, involved the introduction of more weapons than allowed into the limited armaments zones or the introduction of weapon types not permitted in the zones, the source said.
The Egyptians were credited with making sincere efforts to observe the disengagement agreements they signed with Israel last March 1 and in every case so far, unauthorized weapons have been withdrawn from the limited forces zone following Israel’s complaints. The same was not true of the Syrians who signed the disengagement accords on June 1.
According to the source, Egyptian authorities are under heavy pressure from former inhabitants of the Sues Canal zone to rehabilitate the canal side towns and villages. Only 50 percent of the civilian population that was forced to leave the canal zone after the Six-Day War and the war of attrition has been able to return to date, the source reported. Port Said, at the Mediterranean end of the canal, and Ismailia, at its center point are in better condition than Sues on the Gulf of Suez where the petrochemical industries and oil refineries have yet to be reconstructed, the source said.
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