The State Department said today that it had no evidence whether or not the murder of Israeli diplomat Yosef Alon Sunday morning was a political act, presumably by Arab terrorists, or an ordinary street crime. “No results or conclusions can be drawn at the present time, “Department spokesman Paul Hare told reporters.
Col. Alon, the Israeli Air Attache, was shot five times by revolver bullets at close range in front of his suburban Maryland home The Arab terrorist radio in Cairo, “Voice of Palestine,” claimed today that he was “executed” in retaliation for the bomb death in Paris last Thursday of an Algerian member of El Fatah. Arab newspapers in Beirut with reputed terrorist connections said the killing showed that “the arm of the Palestinians” has reached Washington.
Montgomery County (Md.) police headquarters which has local jurisdiction said that “a motive” for the killing has not been established. The FBI is known to have issued a nationwide alert for a “light-colored car with rental tags.” A car was heard speeding from the scene of the shooting. FBI headquarters here told the JTA that special agent Tom Farrow of its Baltimore office is in charge of the investigation.
Replying to reporters’ questions today, Hare said that local police, the FBI and the Executive Protective Service have been using their “agencies in the most efficient manner in the circumstances” to provide security for diplomats. He said that “protection” has been stepped up since the murder but declined to give the number of police and agents on duty. The Executive Protective Service is a special detail that guards foreign legations and the White House.
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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.
