State Department Rejects Report That 65 F-104 Bombers Sent to Jordan

The State Department ridiculed today a Middle East press report that 65. American-built F-104 fighter bombers arrived in Jordan during the past two weeks from Turkey, but did not deny a statement in the same report that American equipment was being used in the construction of a radar network in the northeast corner of Jordan abutting Syria and Iraq, both openly hostile to King Hussein’s regime. The Beirut press dispatch quoted “western diplomatic sources” to the effect that the planes came from Turkey where the United States has military bases, but that there was no information about the nationality of the pilots. State Department sources said Jordan does not have enough pilots to man even a third of the reported 65 planes and called the figure “absolutely fantastic.”

The Beirut dispatch quoted its sources as saying that a large number of U.S. transport planes have flown in and out of Jordan during the past two weeks, apparently bearing radar components. Syria broke relations with Jordan last Thursday over Hussein’s final crackdown against terrorist groups operating from Jordanian bases. Clashes broke out at least three times last week on the Jordanian-Syrian frontier, reportedly involving both tanks and planes. Asked if he had information about the radar report, State Department spokesman Robert J. McCloskey replied: “I am not going to say anything about it.” State Department officials have maintained a tight silence on Middle East developments since the return from Israel earlier this month of Joseph J. Sisco, Assistant Secretary of State. It has long been State Department policy to refuse to discuss U.S. military supplies shipments to the Middle East.