The Secretary General of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjold announced today that Israel had complied with the Iraqi terms for releasing three Israeli citizens imprisoned in Bagdad when their plane was forced down.
He told a press conference today that he had received a letter from the Israel Government saying that it was Israel’s policy to return any Iraqi citizens found in its territory. He had forwarded this letter, which was dated a week ago, to the Iraqi delegation. Such a letter had been demanded by the Iraqis who contended that seven unnamed Iraqi citizens might be somewhere in Israel.
When he was asked if this was not similar to Hitler’s principle of holding hostages he agreed that the principle was an “extraordinary” one, but if the parties agreed there was nothing he could do. The Secretary General said that this diplomatic exchange was another sign of the “irregular conditions” in the Middle East.
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