The newspaper Le Monde reported today that France will start delivering Mirage jets to Libya by the end of this year or the beginning of 1971 at the latest. The Libyans are to get 110 Mirage 3 supersonic jet fighters for their air force. Le Monde said production of the planes at the Dassault plant and the SNECMA engine works has been speeded up from one a month to nine by the end of the year and 12 per month thereafter. A number of French experts are already in Libya to help train their pilots and to reorganize the country’s aeronautical system to accommodate the new aircraft. Le Monde reported that several Libyan pilots have arrived in France to undergo flight training in the Mirages. The Iraqi Embassy today accused several leading French personalities of “aiding Zionist propaganda.” The embassy statement named Gen. Pierre Koenig, a former resistance fighter and Gen. Paul Steahlin, former Air Force Chief of Staff.
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