(JTA) Security Council President Senjin Tsuruoka of Japan called the Israeli and Egyptian representatives to separate meetings today to discuss the Elath case. He met first with Foreign Minister Mahmoud Riad of Egypt and Ambassador El Khony. Later he saw Ambassador Gideon Rafael and Ambassador Shabtai Rosenne of Israel who described the sinking of the ship to him and stressed the extreme gravity of the situation. Neither party asked for a meeting of the Security Council.
Previously, both sides had exchanged charges in letters to Mr. Tsuruoka. The Egyptians asserted that the Elath had been on an offensive mission, which the Israelis denied. The Israeli letters said the sinking was “an outrageous and menacing violation of international law on the high seas” and a violation of the obligations Egypt had accepted when she signed the cease-fire agreements.
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