LONDON: Britain yesterday [Aug 27] reiterated its support for the “Emirates’ Federation” it hopes to set up in the Persian Gulf area before British troops pull out in 1971, authoritative British sources said here today.

The sources said the undertaking had been reaffirmed in a long talk between Minister of State at the Foreign Office Goronwy Roberts and Sheikh Issa Bin Salman al-Khalifa, head of Bahrain principality. The Sheikh had assured Mr Roberts that he would do his utmost for the success of the project, the sources said. — Agency

[Meanwhile, as reported by an agency in Tel Aviv,] The Israeli Government has authorised the establishment of six new settlements in the Israel-occupied area, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Haim Gvati, told a Press conference here today [Aug 28]. The Minister said that altogether 10 new villages would be established, four in the Arava desert between the Dead Sea and Eilat.

Plans for new settlements in the occupied areas were in an advanced stage for two in the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the six-day war of June 1967, two in the Jordan Valley in what was formerly Jordan territory, and two more in northern Sinai. The Minister said that since the 1967 war, 10 settlements had been established on the Golan heights, four in the Jordan valley, two in the Etzion bloc nearby and two in Sinai.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2019