Hugh Ganskell, leader of the British Labor Party, tonight called on British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden at his residence at 10 Downing Street, and discussed with him the danger for peace in the Middle East involved in exporting surplus military equipment to Egypt and other countries. The meeting took place at Mr. Gaitskell’s request.
A statement declaring that “it is still the Government’s policy to prevent an arms race in the Middle East, whatever the source” was issued from the Prime Minister’s office after the meeting. “No licenses have been granted to private dealers,” declared the statement, “for the export of materiel which might be reconditioned or re-exported as weapons of war, unless the countries to which this materiel is sent from Britain guarantees that it will not be re-exported or reconditioned.”
“Since the end of the war,” the statement continued, “large quantities of surplus materiel has been disposed of, both for civilian use and for scrap. For instance, 430 modified Sherman tanks were sent to Tanganyika for a not-grinding scheme. Later, they were sold to Israel and Belgium for purely civilian purposes. We have no reason to believe they were used in any other way.
“More recently, however, doubts were raised as to whether some of the surplus materiel is not being diverted by foreign dealers for uses other than those stated. Last summer, no licenses were issued for export of any significant quantities of surplus war materiel with one exception — 8,000 tons of spares for armored fighting vehicles were exported to Holland for civilian purposes. The Netherlands Government had pledged that these goods would not leave Holland in any form of admisable for military purposes.”
Mr. Gaitskell, in a statement said there is an urgent need” for an Arab-Israel peace settlement.” “Meanwhile,” the Labor Party leader insisted, “the 1950 Tripartite Declaration issued by France, Britain and the United States for maintaining the status quo in the Middle East remains an indispensable instrument for preventing war. Mr. Gaitskell declared also that the tensions in the Middle East had increased since the Czechoslovak Egyptian arms deal had been effected, and called on the Western powers to “formally and publicly” seek the Soviet Union’s participation in the maintenance of peace between Israel and the Arab states.
Alfred Robens, foreign affairs expert of the Labor Party accompanied Mr. Gaitskell to the conference with the Prime Minister. Mr. Robens is leaving for the Middle East on an official mission for the Labor Party to confer with government leaders in Egypt, Jordan and Israel, and to discuss the arms situation with them.
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