dated July 23, 1951: After the Jerusalem assassination

As Amman, and the Palestine area of Jerusalem, continued to be tense following the assassination of Jordan's King Abdullah, in Cairo the former Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el Husseini, issued a statement disclaiming any relation with Mustafa Shokry Ashu, the tailor who had shot the King dead, and himself been mown down within minutes by bullets from the royal bodyguard.

On the far-reaching implications of the shocking killing, Mr. K. Balaraman, reported from New York, ``The dead monarch had been regarded as the only stabilising factor in that part of the world, which is pivotal in East-West relations. ... King Abdullah, alone of all the Arab leaders, was a moderate in the eyes of the West. He even stood for peace with Israel, and would actually have signed a separate peace agreement but for the Arab League's militant opposition. On account of this, and because of his dream for a Greater Syria comprising Jordan, Syria, and Iraq under the Hashemite dynasty, many Arab countries distrusted Abdullah. They also thought that the late king had betrayed the Arab cause in Palestine. ... It could well be that the shot fired against Abdullah was really a shot against the British, whose most faithful ally he was. American observers too feel that `this assassination may trigger other ultra-nationalist acts that would disturb peace in the Arab world which would be most dangerous'.''

Elusive Korean truce

General Ridgway said in Tokyo on the 22nd that he was not very optimistic over peace in Korea resulting from the ceasefire talks staged in Kaesong. He said that his own approach was to ``wait and see.'' The United Nations Supreme Commander expressed this view in an interview given to Mr. Irving R. Levine of the National Broadcasting Company, America. As the General conferred with Admiral Charles Turner Joy, head of the U.N. truce team, United Nations naval vessels and aircraft kept up the war in Korea. Warships bombarded Communist troops and supply lines along the east coast of Korea.

The United Nations Command appeared to be resigned to waiting until July 25 for a Communist decision whether to accept an armistice without the withdrawal of foreign troops. It was an uneasy lull at the battlefront.

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