The State Department expressed grave concern today over the spreading violence in Lebanon where the second American building in three days was sacked and burned by Arab rioters.
While United States diplomatic posts throughout the Middle East were alerted for trouble, William Rountree, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, conferred with the Lebanese Ambassador in Washington, Nadim Dimechrel
Today’s anti-American violence was directed at the United States Information Agency library in Beirut, the Lebanese capital. The first American building razed by Arab mobs Saturday was the USIA library in the Lebanese oil port of Tripoli. Adding to the confusion and danger was a general strike called by opposition parties in Lebanon and reportedly completely effective in paralyzing the capital city as well as the port.
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