State Department spokesman Robert McCloskey declined to comment today on Egyptian press reports that President Nasser of Egypt had threatened a preventive war against Israel if Israel tested a nuclear weapon. The State Department spokesman said, however, the United States was opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons anywhere in the world, including the Near East.
This country, he said, keeps abreast of developments in all countries in efforts to assure non-proliferation. He said that the United States had no information that any Near Eastern country was making or intending to make a nuclear weapon. He added that this country considered the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency a step in the prevention of proliferation.
Meanwhile, high-ranking U. S. officials welcomed today an Egyptian parliamentary delegation invited as official guests of the United States in an effort to develop a closer relationship between America and Egypt. The five-member delegation is headed by Anwar El-Sadat, speaker of the Egyptian National Assembly.
The group was met at Dulles International Airport by Deputy Under-Secretary of State Raymond Hare. The Egyptians have been invited to the White House and will meet there with President Johnson tomorrow.
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