BRITAIN WARNS ARAB STATES

Chronicle (Levin), 4 May 1948, Page 5

BRITAIN WARNS ARAB STATES

(N.Z.P.A.-

- Reuter ,

Invasion Of Palestine Will Be Met With Force,

Copyright)

Received Tuesday, 10.30 a.m* LONDON, May 3. The British Commander-in-Chief in Palestine, Lieut.General H. A. MacMillan, has authorised the New York Post's milit^ry analyst, Major O. Eliot, to say that the British Army and Royal Air Force would resist "with full force" any attempt by any Arab State to invade Palestine while the Britsh mandate is in effect. This is reported by the Associated Pre.ss Jerusalem correspondent. A Jewish Agency spokesman told a Press eonference in Jerusalem today that a mass exodus of Arabs was taking place from Safad, which .is a mixed Arab- Jewish town in upper Galilee. He added that the Palestine Arabs had developed a "flight psychosis."

The Arabs' plans for the invasion of Palestine are cornplete, says the Daily Telegraph's Amman correspondent. Arab Ministers and leaders, during a series of talks, have attained unity. The arrival of the Syrian Prime Minister, Jamil Mardem Bey, and a letter to King Abdullah of Transjordan from King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, promising financial and military assistance, indicated the closure of two breaches in the Arab States' unity. The Arab delegates' offer to the Jewish Agency of citizenship in a unified Palestine with local auton-1

omy in Jewish majority areas, is j the Arabs' final word. The Arabs | cfo not expect acceptance but they i desire to record their readiness to ; preserve the peace in Palestine. If I the Jews reject the offer, fullscale i war involving the Arab States' j regular forces, is inevitable. Bed- | ouin tribesmen and other irregular forces will be brought under a unified command to co-operate j with the regular forces. TransI jordan will be the centre of opera- • tions. An Egyptian General and his staff have already arrived at Amman for discussions.