Syria complained to the United Nations Security Council today against Israel’s air and ground actions of last Friday, in defense of Israeli farmers who had been attacked by Syrian fire-while cultivating their own lands in a demilitarized zone of the Israeli-Syrian frontier. It claimed that Israel bombed eight Syrian villages, using bombs of half-ton weight, including napalm.
Today’s letter to the Council did not request a meeting on the issue and was a direct reversal of a statement made during the weekend by Syrian President Nurieddin Al-Atassi, who had announced at a Damascus rally that his Government would file no more complaints with the Security Council.
The letter, sent to the Security Council president, George Ignatieff, of Canada, by Syria’s Ambassador George J. Tomeh, accused Israel of “aggression with the traditional planning and brutality which have become a feature of the Israeli war crimes,” The communication did not mention the fact that Israel’s jet planes, defending Israel against Syrian attacks, had shot down six, Soviet-made MIG-21’s, flown by the Syrians. The letter stated that Israel’s planes had “penetrated deeply beyond” the Israeli-Syrian armistice lines, and claimed that “Syrian planes were able to meet them and defeat their intent.”
Mr. Tomeh mentioned that Syria had filed a complaint last Friday night with the Israeli-Syrian Mixed Armistice Commission, but failed to indicate that, since, Syria had withdrawn that complaint.
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