Israel today filed a counter-complaint against Jordan before the UN Security Council, accusing the Amman Government of violating the armistice agreement which both governments approved in principle in 1949.
As a result of Israel’s complaint–which followed one filed by Jordan yesterday–the Security Council scheduled a full day of sessions tomorrow to consider the grievances expressed by both sides. Jordan accused Israel of trying to obtain military advantage through an afforestation project in no-man’s land south of Jerusalem.
In today’s counter-complaint, Israel pointed out that Jordan has consistently refused, for the past eight years, to join a special bi-governmental committee provided for in the armistice agreement for resumption of various civilian activities and rebuilding of civilian facilities. The complaint pointed out that Israel’s institutions on Mt. Scopus are now deserted ruins because of Jordan’s recalcitrance, that Jewish pilgrims are barred from visits to the Wailing Wall, that the cemetery on the Mt. of Olives has been desecrated and that the Latrun pumping station has not yet been rebuilt.
(In Jerusalem a Foreign Ministry spokesman today described as “frivolous” the Jordan complaint. The spokesman said that Jordan had exploited part of the “no-man’s land” in the demilitarized zone of Jerusalem where Israel is planting trees in a reforestation project. Reporters were taken for a tour of the area by the spokesman. They watched a tractor landscaping a hillside slope for pine and cypress plantings. The spokesman said the terracing and land cultivation were exclusively within Israel’s side of the “civilian line.”)
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