The State Department told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency yesterday that it “deplores and condemns” the planting of bombs near the United Nations buildings and at the Iraqi UN Mission in New York Monday. The “devices” found near the UN “endangered part of UN premises and personnel” and those at the Iraqi Mission “endangered innocent lives,” a State Department source told the JTA.
The source said that such acts “are totally contrary to efforts for a negotiated peace in the Middle East” and that the FBI was working in cooperation with the New York City police to “identify and apprehend the perpetrators.” The Department’s reaction to the bomb plantings was given to the JTA after the regular briefing for reporters at which the matter did not come up.
It was learned, meanwhile, that the State Department received three telephone bomb threats last week while Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon was in Washington.
The first threat was received Wednesday night while Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger was hosting a State Department dinner in honor of Allon. The other two came Friday morning just after Allon had completed his final talks with Kissinger at a breakfast meeting. The State Department said no devices were found in the building or on the grounds. It said the threats were under investigation by the Washington metropolitan police, the Federal Executive Protective Service which protects diplomatic missions here and the State Department’s security personnel.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
