Release of Imprisoned Jewish Agency Leaders Reported Imminent; Press Hails End of Talks

Release of the Jewish Agency leaders detained in the Latrun prison since June 29 is reported to be imminent, although no official confirmation could be obtained here today. An Agency spokesman, while stating that he could not confirm the report, stressed that he was not denying it.

The Small Zionist Actions Committee will meet on Wednesday to hear reports from Rabbi Judah Fishman and Eliezer Kaplan, who participated in the most recent series of discussions with the British Government, which terminated on Friday. The two Agency representatives are flying here from London.

The Hebrew press generally favors the cessation of the London talks, which, as one paper puts it, “led nowhere except to Jewish humiliation.” Several papers say that the chief reason the talks ended was the persistent British demand that the Agency halt further “illegal” immigration and the government’s refusal to agree to increased immigration on a large scale.

CURFEWED JERUSALEM TENSE AS ARMED TROOPS TAKE OVER CITY AFTER DUSK

Jerusalem has become a tense, dead city after dusk, as a result of the rigid curfew imposed yesterday. One of the first prominent victims of the ban was Czechoslovakian Consul-General Ivan Novak and his wife, who were arrested last night by soldiers and held for an hour despite the consul’s diplomatic immunity. The curfew, which is being strictly enforced by heavily armed troops in full battle regalia, was clamped down after mines had killed several soldiers and a police inspector was shot dead.

The inspector, William Bruce, was killed in accordance with the decisions of a “special resistance court,” the Jewish Telegraphic Agency was informed by a reliable source. He was “found guilty” of torturing colonists from the colony of Birya, all of whose male settlers were arrested several months ago on charges of unlawful possession of arms, the JTA informant said.

Military telephone lines connecting Haifa with the rest of Palestine were cut last night by unknown persons. Police said they believed two “Jewish terrorists” were responsible. A Royal Signal Corps officer was slightly injured today when he stepped on a mine placed near where the line was cut.

More than 100 delegates of the Moslem Brotherhood, representing 10,000 members in Palestine, Transjordan and Lebanon, meeting yesterday in Haifa, adopted a resolution urging the Palestine Arab Higher executive to place the Arab case for Palestine before the United Nations. Jamal Husseini and Emil Glory, members of the executive, left here today for Alexandria to join in talks with the ex-Mufti on the Palestine situation. The two other members of the executive, Hussein Khalidi and Hilmi Pasha, have been in Alexandria for a week.