The United States recently informed the Syrian Government that America would consider any Arab application to purchase Hawk antiaircraft rockets of the same type the United States agreed in principle to sell to Israel, it was learned here today.
Meanwhile, reports have been received here conveying the text of a new address by Egyptian President Nasser proclaiming that Nasser’s victory in Yemen is a step toward the destruction of Israel. Nasser declared that “The liberation of Yemen is a step along the path of eliminating Zionism.”
He recalled his prediction that “we could liberate the usurped land of Palestine after we organized our home front and after we eliminated Arab reaction.” He said that Israel was “in a state of anxiety” as a result of the Yemeni revolution, and that Israel was defending King Saud and King Hussein.
Nasser also charged that “world Jewry” opposed the Yemeni revolution “because the Yemeni revolution opposes Zionism, imperialism and reactionary goals.”
Yemen’s new regime boasted today that its army possesses rockets, and threatened to use them against the royal palaces of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The threat was made in a broadcast from San’a, the Yemeni capital.
The announcer did not give the type, make, or number of the rockets exhibited at a military celebration staged by the new Yemeni Government, but said they were among the “latest modern rockets in the world.” There was speculation that they came from Cairo and actually are controlled by Egyptian troops now present in Yemen.
Marshall Sallal of Yemen said in a broadcast speech that the pro-Nasser regime is “building an army strong enough to liberate the entire Arabian Peninsula.”
State Department spokesman Lincoln White said today that Yemen’s boasts of modern rockets and threats to use them aggressively were “not conducive” to peace in the Middle East. Mr. White said the Yemeni boasts would not help promote military disengagement in the area.
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