Secretary of State William P. Rogers has called on as many governments as possible to become parties to existing international conventions against crime and to initiate more effective measures to counter terrorism. According to State Department spokesman Charles Bray, Rogers sent personal messages expressing this desire over the weekend to all the governments with which the US has diplomatic relations or interest sections. The latter include Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Libya.
Bray told newsmen that the message was a follow-up on the initial consultations held at the State Department last week with the chief diplomatic representatives of about 50 countries. These consultations followed the massacre at Munich, in which 11 Israeli Olympic athletes were killed.
Rogers’ message, according to Bray, repeated his recent statement to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) subcommittee, which is now meeting in Washington. Bray also said that the American government favored bringing up the issue of terrorism in all forms at the forthcoming UN General Assembly meeting. He stated that sanctions against countries which do not adhere to international conventions are now being discussed at the ICAO meeting.
American ratification of the Hague Convention, which deals with air piracy, will be sent to Congress in the next two days. Other international conventions are the Tokyo Treaty of 1963 and the Montreal Convention of 1971, which deals with sabotage of an aircraft.
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