Egyptian newspapers claimed today that the arrest of three Yemeni Arabs in New York Saturday night for allegedly plotting to assassinate President-elect Richard M. Nixon was part of a “Zionist” plot to discredit the Arabs and turn Mr. Nixon against them. Cairo’s semi-official newspaper Al Ahram alleged that the police account was “full of holes.” The newspaper Al Gumhoriya said the charges against Ahmed Rageh Namer and his sons, Abdo and Hussein, were brought by the police of New York which is “a den of Zionism in America.”
Al Ahram said the alleged plot against Mr. Nixon may have been devised to hint to the next President that “perhaps New York’s five million Jews denied you their votes but the Arabs tried to murder you.” Al Ahram said that Yemen was not directly involved in the Palestine issue and that a plot against Mr. Nixon was unlikely because he has not taken office and his exact Middle East policy was not as yet known despite its generally pro-Israel slant.
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