President de Gaulle of France proposed today that the United Nations draw the permanent boundaries in the Middle East. He made the suggestion in the course of a speech at a reception honoring visiting President Aref, of Iraq who replied with a speech praising French policy in the Middle East and denouncing “Zionist propaganda.” The reception, held at the Hotel de Ville, Paris’ City Hall, was boycotted by many prominent Frenchmen who had been invited.
Gen. de Gaulle opened his remarks by lamenting the “state of war” that has prevailed in the Middle East for the past eight months and said it could be ended and peace achieved by a settlement that reversed all of the “damage” done to the Arabs. The French leader reiterated his peace plan which, he said, calls for the withdrawal of military forces from all occupied territories, the establishment of normal peaceful relations between Israel and the Arab states, the repatriation of refugees, free navigation for all in international waterways and permanent borders outlined by the United Nations. Diplomatic observers here were quick to note that the last item represents a new proposal by Gen. de Gaulle.
The Iraqi president, who is seeking Mirage jet planes and other armaments from France, said he was not surprised that “the noble French people side with justice in the Middle East” and have “exposed Zionist propaganda to the light.”
Gen. Barzani, leader of the Kurdish nationalists in Iraq, has urged President de Gaulle not to go through with a reported $160.8 million arms deal with President Aref. The Kurdish leader told de Gaulle that the supply of arms to Iraq by France would “only encourage new destruction and massacres” of Kurds, Le Monde reported today. The Iraqi army and airforce have been deployed for ten years or more in an attempt to crush the Kurdish autonomy movement.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
