Reports from Cairo that the Egyptian Government had eased its “blacklisting” of ships which call at Israeli ports were interpreted in United Nations circles today as an attempt on the part of the Egyptian Government to avoid a censure by the Security Council over its blockade of Israel-bound shipping through the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Eilath.
There was some confusion here as to actually what, if anything, the Egyptian Government had done to “relax” the blacklisting. In the past, ships which called at Israeli ports were “for all time” refused the right to enter Egyptian ports either on business or for fuel supplies and repairs. The reported “relaxation” would have removed from the blacklist ships which call at Israeli ports but not at Arab ports on the same voyage.
An Israeli spokesman’s comment on the report was that the new regulations amounted to a “minor adjustment” while the blockade of Israel-bound shipping remains in force.
Western diplomats expressed their reaction by using the phrase “too little and too late.”
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