France has set up In Lebanon a huge, ultra-modern radar station capable of covering the entire eastern Mediterranean and as far south as the Sinat, the French weekly, “Nouvel Observateur” reported today. The publication, said the station, which it said Is staffed by French technicians, enables French officials to follow Suez Canal air battles daily. The technicians, the paper reported, claim that “the Israelis minimize their losses by 12 percent, the Egyptians by 60 (percent).” To date, the report continued, Lebanese officials have refused to divulge their new radar-gained data to other Arab armies, including those of Egypt and Syria, claiming malfunction of the machinery. French sources denied the “Nouvel Observateur” contentions, asserting that the French radar stations sold to Lebanon were short-range and capable of covering only part of the Galilee area. Even the larger “Thomson” radar station delivered last year falls short of the French weekly’s claim, the sources said, adding that that station is manned by a largely Lebanese staff that includes only two French civilian technicians.
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