State Department sources acknowledged today that high level U.S. reconnaissance flights over the Suez Canal zone to detect truce violations by Egypt were suspended about three weeks ago after having been conducted continuously since the early part of August. The sources would not say why the flights were suspended but indicated that they could be resumed if developments warranted them. (Authoritative sources in Jerusalem have denied an Egyptian charge of a “warlike” military build-up by Israel along the Suez Canal. A military spokesman said that the Egyptians may have mistaken routine Army maneuvers on the Israeli side for a build-up.) American reconnaissance flights over the Suez Canal zone apparently were prompted by Israeli charges of Egyptian truce violations almost from the moment the truce went into effect. The intelligence gained from the flights reportedly corroborated Israeli charges that the Egyptians were bringing Soviet missiles into the truce zone in violation of the standstill provisions of the cease-fire agreement.
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