The United States deal with Jordan, for provision of “a limited number of military jet aircraft” to the Amman Government, involves the sale of two squadrons, comprising 24 planes, of the F-104, jet supersonic type, the Financial Times reported here today from Beirut, Lebanon. The U. S. State Department’s confirmation of the agreement with Jordan, issued last weekend, did not identify either the type of craft or the number of planes.
Other dispatches, received here today from Cairo, reported that Al Ahram, the authoritative Egyptian newspaper, expressed “surprise and resentment” over Washington’s announcement of the deal with Jordan, saying that the agreement was “merely a pretext” for a new American arms deal with Israel.
Cairo, according to other dispatches from Egypt, was offended by a reference in the State Department’s announcement to “massive Soviet sales of arms to certain countries of the Near East, ” pointing out that the Washington wording pointed up the acquisition by Egypt of armaments from the Soviet Union.
Egypt was reported also objecting to Washington’s reminder that it is interested in preserving the balance of arms in the Middle East. Al Ahram asked sarcastically whether that concern meant the United States wanted to balance Egypt’s use of Soviet arms against Jordan’s reliance on American aircraft.
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