The main aim of the new Cabinet of Jordan will be “the recovery of Palestine,” King Hussein said in a directive reported here today from Amman.
The directive also asked the 13-man Cabinet, formed by Premier Wasfi Tel over the weekend, to win over friendly states and cement Arab solidarity. Some observers here said the king’s instructions indicated the new Cabinet was a war Cabinet. The king emphasized that the Palestine issues was “a question of life or death and part of our national existence.”
After instructing the Premier to form a new Cabinet, the King dissolved the Jordanian Parliament and indicated new general elections would be held within four months. In his instructions to the Premier, the King indicated he intended to continue to take a strong line against opponents of his regime. The King told Premier Tel to deal “firmly and decisively” with “seditious elements and insurgents.”
A two-day meeting of Arab defense heads on proposals to station troops in Jordan ended yesterday with no indication that King Hussein had relaxed his conditions for such military help, it was reported here today from Cairo, site of the meeting.
The 90-minute meeting ended without any statement being issued, another indication that Jordan continued to resist the proposal. Earlier this month, the Arab League Defense Council approved a resolution calling on Jordan to allow Saudi Arabian and Iraqi troops to be stationed on Jordan’s border with Israel.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
