‘le Monde’ Article Sees Little Chance of End to French Embargo

An authority on French foreign affairs said here today that there was little likelihood of a change in President de Gaulle’s policy toward Israel in the near future. Andre Fountaine, writing in the newspaper Le Monde, said that nobody expects de Gaulle to lift the embargo on the 50 Mirage V supersonic jets purchased by Israel even though French finances could benefit from it. The jets were paid for in full by Israel last April but are being held in storage pending an end to the embargo. Mr. Fountaine said that Iraq, which disappointed France over oil rights, may not order the Mirage Jets which de Gaulle had agreed to sell them during Iraqi President Aref’s visit to Paris last spring.

(Jordan is building new air bases in “rear desert areas’ to accommodate an estimated 32 American Star fighter military jets promised to Amman as well as Hawker Hunter British planes, according to “military sources,” the Christian Science Monitor reported today. Middle East reporter John K. Cooley quoted King Hussein as saying that ‘though we are trying our utmost to build…a form of defense capability in the air to protect the cities and our positions, it will be some time before this is possible.” Mr. Cooley asserted that Israeli planes “fly almost daily reconnaissance flights over East Jordan.”)