CAIRO: According to the “Al-Ahram” paper, the United States has begun to ship new deliveries of weapons to Israel on the basis of a recently signed contract. The paper writes that the United States will this time supply Israel with 200 Paton, 48 tanks, 80 “F-104” fighters and some other types of aircraft.

As stressed by the paper, this is the third contract on weapons deliveries to be signed between the United States and Israel. The first similar to the present one, was signed after the breaking out of a crisis between West Germany and Arab countries when secret deliveries of West German weapons to Israel were revealed. The United States had then undertaken to effect the remaining West German deliveries. The second contract was signed early this year.

[Meanwhile in Washington] American influence in Asia is likely to continue to decline while that of China will continue to grow, an important Congressional Sub-committee said here yesterday [May 20].

In a report following an exhaustive hearing on US China and Asia the House Foreign Affairs Sub-committee on the Far East said that it was doubtful that the United States or other “distant non-Asian” countries could compete in Asia with China with the latter’s geographical advantage as well as ever-growing economic and military power.

Referring to Asian peacekeeping problems, a question receiving intense attention in this country on account of the Viet-Namese intervention, the Congressional Sub-committee said: “We seriously question the wisdom and ultimately the capacity of the United States continuing for the next decade or more to discharge those heavy responsibilities with only marginal assistance and co-operation from our Allies in Europe.”

Dawn Special Representative

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2016