The New York Times reports that Sir Mohammed Zafrullah Khan, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, said in Karachi this week-end that the Arab states must have satisfaction on the problems of the Arab refugees and the frontier with Israel before they cooperate in a Middle East defense pact. In an interview the Foreign Minister made the following points:
1. “The most important point is that of the Arab refugees. After that is the question of frontiers. The Arab states must have satisfaction, otherwise they will not cooperate.”
2. “The Arab states will at no time tolerate Israel having anything to say about the disposition of the forces within the boundaries of Arab states. While no Arab state would object to the presence of forces of another state within its frontier, for instance, one state might have more airpower available than another, they would never approve of the presence of Israeli forces.”
3. “As a further note and one of caution I would like to point out that it must not be automatically assumed that the Arab states will cooperate.”
Sir Zafrullah confirmed reports that he had invited the foreign ministers of 12 Moslem states to meet here in April to discuss matters of mutual interest. The nations are Afghanistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and Yemen.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
