The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has advised its 3000 member agents in the United States and Canada to cease arranging for travel to any Arab country that harbors or sympathizes with hijackers, it was disclosed today. The disclosure was contained in a telegram sent yesterday by ASTA president Charles B. West to the governments of Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria and Syria demanding that they declare themselves “opposed to the unconscionable hijacking of international air travellers and take whatever steps are necessary to halt these acts of air piracy.” Mr. West, whose organization is the world’s largest travel association, warned in his telegram that “If necessary assurances are not received from your government this week on behalf of our 9,700 world-wide members, international travellers and the entire travel industry, additional severe steps will be recommended to ASTA member agents that can effectively divert international tourism from Arab countries with consequent economic hardships and cultural losses to that part of the world.”
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