An Israel military spokesman charged last night that the Egyptian Government has officially admitted violation of the terms of the armistice commission in searching vessels at the Suez Canal which are suspected of being bound for Israel.
The spokesman pointed to a statement Tuesday by Egyptian customs officials that Egyptian Army personnel are searching suspected vessels. He said that this, in effect, cuts the ground from under the position taken by Lt. Gen. William E. Riley, U.N. truce supervisor, that if the searches are conducted by civilian customs officials no breach of the armistice pact results.
The Israeli pointed out that at the last meeting of the Israel-Egyptian Mired Armistice Commission June 12 last, Israeli delegate Col. Moshe Dayan charged three times that Egyptian military personnel were involved in the searches. Gen. Riley insisted that he had no evidence to corroborate this accusation, and rejected an Israeli suggestion that U.N. observers be sent to the Suez Canal area to check the identity of the searchers.
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.
