State Dept. Says Elath Sinking Was ‘egyptian Affair,’ Plays Down Soviet Role

A high State Department official today minimized the Soviet military links with Egypt, stating that the sinking of the Israeli destroyer, Elath, “seems to have been entirely an Egyptian affair.” He equated the Israeli shelling of the Suez refinery complex as a comparable violation of the cease-fire.

William B. Macomber, Jr., Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations, incorporated the Department’s findings on the role of Soviet military technicians in Egypt and the Elath affair. In a letter to Rep. Seymour Halpern, N.Y. Republican, Mr. Macomber said he was writing on behalf of Secretary of State Dean Rusk in response to questions raised by the congressman.

He said that “as for the Soviet military technicians and advisors in the United Arab Republic, we have been aware for some time that there are such technicians in Egypt, but we do not know precisely how many there are. We think, however, their number should be placed in the hundreds, rather than in the thousands. In any event, we have no information to indicate that the Soviets played a direct role in the sinking of the Elath, which seems to have been entirely an Egyptian affair.”

Mr. Macomber pointed out that while the United States deplored the cease-fire violation represented by the sinking of the Elath, “we have taken a similar position on other violations of the cease-fire such as the destruction of the refinery complex at Suez which, during the winter ahead, will impose considerable hardship on the civilian population of the UAR.”

He said the State Department was seeking a solution to the Arab-Israel dispute “in which these destructive and hate-producing incidents will become things of an unfortunate past.”