Arabs Claim U.S. is Pressuring Egypt to Ease Anti-israel Stand

The Arab League is making strenuous efforts to hold the Asian-African bloc together as an organized caucus for possible use against Israel here as a follow-up to the anti-Israel attitude formalized in resolutions adopted at the Bandung conference last April.

The representatives of the Asian and African member nations here held their second caucus yesterday afternoon, presumably to provide backing for anti-colonial measures concerned with Morocco, Algeria and Kenya. However, it became known here today that Arab delegates told their colleagues in the caucus that the United States, Britain and the United Nations have been quietly exerting pressure upon Egypt in an effort to ease Cairo’s hostility toward Israel.

According to this unconfirmed report the Western Powers, as well as the UN, have been suggesting to Cairo that it take steps to remove as many Arab refugees as possible from the Gaza strip. The United States and Britain would presumably back UN action to help Egypt resettle many of the Arab refugees from Gaza if Egypt conceded that such a move would be beneficial to all concerned.

The big fact as seen here, however, is the continuation of the caucus itself as an organized entity. Until the last General Assembly there had been in existence a fairly tight liaison between the Arab nations and the Latin American countries represented here. With the growth of “neutralism” in Asia, and with Israel having attained warm relationships with the Latin American bloc, it became necessary for the Arab League to seek a different form for a new pressure group here. Continuation of the Asian-African bloc under the pretext of implementing the Bandung resolutions provided the answer sought by the Arab League here.