Arab Nations Outraged at Jet Interception

A wave of outrage swept through the Arab world Wednesday, uniting moderate states with radicals in denunciation of the Israeli interception of a Libyan executive jet.

There was also significant condemnation of the incident from America’s European allies.

British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe said the interception of the Libyan jet by Israeli fighters Tuesday “was without justification.” Howe said the action “sets a dangerous precedent which appears to have been in contravention of international law.”

The Belgian government also criticized the Israeli action but said it also condemns “all actions that have helped create a climate which allows such events.”

Rare Arab Accord

The Arab world, which is normally divided into factions by most issues, showed rare unanimity in condemning the interception as an act of air piracy.

The Libyan Grumman Gulfstream II jet, with Syrian and Lebanese passengers returning to Syria from a conference in Tripoli, Libya, was intercepted near Cyprus on Tuesday, under the mistaken belief that Palestinian guerrilla leaders were on board. It was forced to land at an air base in northern Israel, where it was held for five hours before being released to continue to Damascus.

Syrian officials immediately assumed a leadership role in condemning the hijacking. “This hijacking is new evidence of the state terrorism practiced by Israel since its inception,” said Abdullah Ahmar, the assistant secretary general of Syria’s ruling Baath Party, who was the top-ranking passenger on the diverted jet.

Syria summoned the U.N. Security Council into session Tuesday night, although no action was taken. And Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shareh appealed to the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the nonaligned movement for “action” against Israel.

Threats Fill Press

The Arab press was filled with saber-rattling threats against Israel, although these are common in moments of crisis.

Libya called the plane diversion a “low and ugly crime” and hinted that it would support terrorism against Israeli and American airliners in retaliation.

“This act is a provocation that will open the door to others, and it is only the Americans and the Zionists, those partners in crime, who will be responsible for this disruption,” the government radio said, “until there will not be a single remaining safe means of travel in the region.

“If the Zionists justify their piracy by saying that they are pursuing this or that Arab, we have the full right to pursue the barbarous Zionist killers who have committed bloody massacres against our Arab people,” it said. “We have the right to pursue them over our occupied land and in any place in the world and in any means of transport, whether in a plane, a car or a ship.”

War of Words

The United States and Libya have been engaged in a war of words since Dec. 27, when 20 persons, including five Americans, were killed in terrorist attacks at the Rome and Vienna airports. The United States has accused Libya of supporting the terrorist group that carried out the raids.

Khaled Abdul Majid, a spokesman for the Syrian-backed National Salvation Front coalition of six radical Palestinian factions, said in Damascus, “This act will result in an atmosphere of revolutionary violence to be carried out by the revolutionary forces in retaliation.”

While the rhetoric was largely expected, it also came from some surprising quarters, notably such pro-Western Arab nations as Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Jordan’s King Hussein was quoted as having called the interception an “act of piracy against a civilian Arab plane.”