CAIRO: The Arab countries today [Oct 31] began imposing a further 5 per cent reduction in their oil exports to the outside world, and pledged “continued use of petroleum in the battle until liberation of occupied Arab territories is completed and Palestinian rights are restituted”. The Egyptian “Middle East News Agency” quoted a Saudi source as saying the Riyadh Government had decided [on a] new 5 per cent slump in production. … The Organisation of Arab Petroleum Produ­cing Countries ... earlier this month, had adopted a resolution calling for a monthly 5 per cent cut … until a settlement is reached in the Middle East. — News agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Peking,] the Chinese Prime Minister, Mr Chou En-lai said ... that efforts by the Super Powers to impose on the Arabs a solution to the Middle East problem were doomed to failure, and there would be ... recurrence of tensions and turbulence in the area. … [T]he essence of the Middle East issue … is the contention of the Super Powers for hegemony over this region. … The actions of the Super Powers will only serve to further their true features as expansionists”.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2023