Secretary General Kurt Waldheim lodged a strong formal protest with the Syrian government today over the “taking away” of two United Nations observers from their post on the Syrian-Israeli front during the night of March 31. The protest, which was handed to Syria’s UN Ambassador Haissam Kelani, referred to the abduction of an Irish and an American UN officer who were subsequently released in Damascus.
Waldheim did not use the word kidnapping in his formal protest. A UN spokesman repeated, when questioned by reporters on this, that Waldheim’s phrase was “taking away.”* However, he said, the Secretary General’s note stressed that such incidents make the job of UN Observers “almost Impossible.” Kelani expressed regrets and promised to convey the protest to his government in Damascus, the spokesman reported. He said the UN officers had been taken from their observation post at patrol base 44 apparently while asleep. He said they have, since been replaced at the base by two other UN officers. ‘
According to the spokesman. Waldheim also reiterated his concern over the deteriorating situation on the Israeli-Syrian front. The Secretary General met today, at his request with Kelani and with Israeli Ambassador Yosef Tekoah to discuss the Middle East situation, the spokesman reported.
In another development, preparations were underway today for a meeting of the Security Council to take place possibly next week, to extend the mandate of the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in the Middle East which expires in mid-April. UNEF was established by the Security Council last Oct. for a six-month period. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned that consultations between Security Council members on the matter have not started yet owing to the reported Illness of this month’s President of the Security Council, Talib el-Shihib of Iraq. A UN spokesman reported that UNEF commander Gen. Ensio Siilasvuo of Finland, is expected here in connection with the Security Council meeting. (By Yitzhak Rabi)
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