Defense Minister Shimon Peres met again yesterday at his office with the commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Sinai and said Egypt continued to violate the second Sinai accord by an excess of forces in the limited forces zone east of the Suez Canal.
Peres’ conveyed to Gen. Ensio Siilasvuo Israel’s satisfaction at the steps taken by UNEF which resulted in cancellation of Egyptian helicopter flights over the buffer zone and withdrawal of missile sites from the east bank of the canal.
But Peres stressed Israel was not satisfied with the distribution of Egyptian armed forces contending that Egypt has many more battalions in the limited forces zone than is permitted by the accord. Peres said the Egyptian explanation that the battalions are below normal strength is not acceptable. The UNEF commander also promised to impose greater control on movement of Bedouins in the buffer zone, another source of concern to Israel.
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