Lt. Gen. Odd Bull, chief of the U.N. cease-fire observers corps in the Middle East, left here for Cairo this afternoon, presumably carrying a warning from Israel that she will regard as a breach of the cease-fire, any attempt by Egypt to unblock the northern end of the Suez Canal.
Cairo radio said today that survey work in the northern section of the Canal will begin tomorrow. Israel has agreed to the unblocking of the southern end of the Canal in order to free 15 merchant ships that have been stranded there since last June. But Israel vetoed an Egyptian plan to carry out a similar survey in the North which is considered here as an attempt to explore the technical possibilities of reopening the Canal without the agreement of Israel. The agreement of both sides is required by the Israel-Egyptian cease-fire agreement of last June in order for either one to make use of the Canal. Gen. Bull is believed to be carrying Israel’s objections to Cairo in the hope of avoiding any new incidents along the Canal.
Political circles here believe that Israel would agree to the re-opening of the Canal to ships of all nations, except those of Egypt as long as Israeli shipping is barred from the waterway. It is not considered likely however that Egypt would agree to such terms for reasons of national prestige and because Egyptian tugs and pilots are required to guide shipping through the Canal.
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