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London Talks Site Switched

July 17, 1978
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The Israeli-Egyptian Foreign Ministers talks will be held at Leeds Castle in Kent instead of at the Churchill Hotel in London, it was confirmed here tonight. The last-minute switch was brought about by fears in official British circles that Palestinian terrorists might stage a spectacular attack to disrupt the talks and possibly harm the participants.

Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kaamel will meet with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance Tuesday and Wednesday in an effort to break the Middle East negotiations deadlock. They will fly by helicopter to the 1000-year-old fortress-like castle located on an island in the middle of a lake 35 miles southeast of London. Arrangement have been made at the castle should the talks last an additional day.

It was reported here that the move to a safer place was proposed by the British hosts after a former Iraqi Prime Minister was gunned down by assassins at the entrance to a hotel only a half mile away from the Churchill. He was the seventh Arab political figure slain in London in the past two years.

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