The Damascus radio reported today that the United States Ambassador to Syria had handed the Syrian Government a reply to its note to the State Department warning that Israel intends to resume work on the diversion of Jordan River waters for power and irrigation. The Damascus broadcast said that the American reply emphasized U.S. determination to maintain the status quo.
(In Washington, State Department sources said today that the U.S. Ambassador to Damascus was authorized to reply to the Syrian complaint on Israels alleged intention to resume work on the Jordan River waters. The same sources indicated that the U.S. position at present is the same as that taken some time ago at the United Nations Security Council when Israel was called upon to halt its development work along the river near the Syrian frontier.)
Israel’s Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett, speaking in Tel Aviv at a trade union meeting said Israel has full authority to complete the work necessary for utilization of Jordan River waters. He expressed the hope that, when the season for the renewal of operations comes, it would become clear whether the work would go ahead as the result of agreement or whether Israel would have to give serious consideration to executing the plan on her own.
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