BRITAIN REINFORCING

Chronicle (Levin), 14 March 1949, Page 5

BRITAIN REINFORCING

(N.Z.P.A.

— Reuter.

Troops And Armour Arrive At Akaba

, Copyriffht)

Received Monday, 10.15 a.m. LONDON, March 13. It is officially announced that British reinforcements, including troops, artillery and armour, have heen unloading at Akaba since last evening, says Reuter s Amman correspondent. Although the reinforcing force is smail numerically, it is said to be compact and heavily armed. Middle East headquarters are reported to have issued instructions to the Akaba garrison to observe a strict policy of non-interference with the Jews on the Palestine Red Sea coast. The Israeli armoured force advancing along the Wadi Araba is now stated to be encamped in the area known as Wadi Ajarmah, midway between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea. They are reported to be sen-ding out continuous patrols, some of which are engaged in skirmishes with Bedouin Arabs. The Arab Legion outpost of Gharandal faces an Israeli encampment across the frontier. In Tel Aviv today Israeli Government quarters said that Israe.i troops are now in full possession of a six miles long coastal strip on the Gulf of Akaba, which the United Nations partition resolution granted to Israel. An Israeli military spokesman described the Gulf of Akaba operation as "a regrouping of the forces in the Negev fohowing the IsraeliEgyptian armistice agreement, which provided for a reduction in certain zones of the Negev." The occupation of the area opens the way for an Israeli resumption of the export of potash from the Dead Sea. The Israeli-Transj ordan armistice talks on Rhodes were adjourned until tomorrow after a one-hour session today. The mediator, Dr. Ralph Bunche, and his advisers are working out a new approach to the complicated problem of- the Jerusalem armistice lines. A ' —