Austria Says It Will Not Allow U.S. Military Overflights for Israel in Event of New Mideast War

Austria would not allow U.S. military supply aircraft to overfly Aus trian territory with equipment for Israel in the event of a new war in the Middle East, a leading general said this week. “Austria’s neutrality excludes the possibility of overflying its territory for the purpose of transporting war material.” Army Chief General Emil Spannocchi said.

“But if we should be asked to grant exceptions, we would demand to inspect the transports taking off from West Germany before permitting them to fly over Austrian territory,” he explained. Spannocchi denied reports that Austria secretly tolerated such transports during the Yom Kippur War.

“I can assure you that no U.S. Air Force or other planes overflew Austria during the 1973 war,” the army chief asserted. Spannocchi said Austria’s neutrality laid down in the 1955 state treaty would only allow overflying its territory in cases of transports of wounded soldiers and medical equipment or in emergencies to avoid crashes.

U.S. DENIES PLANS

Spannocchi’s statement was provoked by Swiss newspaper reports quoting Peter Dominica newly nominated U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, as saying that one of his first problems would be the discussion of U.S. military supply aircraft to overfly Switzerland with equipment for Israel in the event of a new Mideast war. The State Department in Washington said this week that the U.S. has no plans to negotiate with Switzerland for such an operation.

“No negotiations are in progress and none are planned,” a State Department spokesman said. Dominick told a Senate committee studying his prospective Ambassadorship that his remarks about U.S. Air Force flights over Switzerland were “misunderstood.” He stated: “What I was talking about were negotiations for overflights of unarmed planes.”