The Israeli Ambassador, Acher Ben Natan, and French Foreign Minister Michel Jobert differed sharply today over whether 18 French Mirage jets sold to Libya have been stationed in Egypt. Ben Natan, speaking to French diplomatic correspondents, insisted that Israel has irrefutable evidence that the Mirages are in Egypt and has obtained no pertinent information to corroborate reports that they have returned to their original bases in Libya.
Jobert told the French National Assembly that the French government has been unable to ascertain that the France-Libyan agreement on the sale of the Mirages has been violated. “We have asked the Cairo and Tripoli governments for information and both governments have denied” that the planes were based in Egypt, Jobert said in reply to questions. He remarked that “it is obvious that the planes are not meant to remain on the ground or to fly around a single base.” That remark was viewed as an admission that the Mirages had been on a “courtesy visit” to Egypt.
Ben Natan refused to say what evidence Israel had proving that the Mirages were based in Egypt. “If we say that the planes are there, you can rest assured that we have conclusive evidence,” the Ambassador said. “Our Foreign Minister (Abba Eban) would not have said so unless the evidence was absolutely certain.” Ben Natan claimed on a French television program earlier this week that it was Israeli intelligence alone that obtained evidence that the Libyan Mirages were transferred to Egypt. He denied that the information had been supplied by American intelligence.
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