Israel has asked the State Department to use its influence to persuade Egypt to abide by its original agreement to a one-week extension of the search for bodies of Israeli soldiers missing in the area of the former Barley Line on the Suez Canal east bank, now in Egyptian control. Egyptian authorities on Tuesday suddenly cancelled that extension which Israel had requested when the deadline for the body search expired last Sunday. About 100 Israelis are still listed as missing.
The appeal to the State Department was reported to a delegation of relatives of the missing soldiers who met today with Defense Minister Moshe Dayan in his office. The relatives met last night with Premier Golda Meir who told them everything possible would be done to make possible a continuation of the body search. Dayan said he had raised the issue in his visit last weekend to Washington during his talks with Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. Dayan said he hoped the Egyptians would reinstate the extension.
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