Pentagon sources said today there were no MIG-23 fighter planes in Syria, “crated or uncrated” and said that the presence of foreigners in the Middle East with Arab forces was “not a new development.” State Department sources said there were only some “Cuban advisors” and not a brigade In Syria.
These comments were made in response to statements by Israel” Defense Minister Moshe Dayan Sunday on the NBC-TV “Meet The Press program. Dayan said there was a Cuban brigade with the Syrian army and that there were also East Germans and North Koreans stationed in Syria. Before leaving Washington last night he said the Syrians had the Soviet Union’s advanced fighter plane, the H1G-23.
Observers said the United States official sources were downplaying Dayan’s comments, either out of a desire to avoid political difficulties with the Soviet Union or because of some Congressional pressure regarding Cuba. It was noted here that there Is a growing demand in some Congressional circles and among Latin American nations for admission of Cuba into the Organization of American States, which the United States has opposed. The OAS meets in Atlanta April 29.
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