BEIRUT: The Soviet Union supports the creation of an independent Palestine that would not be demilitarised, it was reported here today [Nov 25]. Soviet backing for an independent State was one of the results “surpassing the hopes” of the Palestinian delegation that just returned from four days of talks in Moscow, the newspaper “An-Nahar” reported. Soviet leaders hold that Palestine should include not only the west bank of the Jordan River, now occupied by the Israelis, but also Jerusalem and the Gaza strip, the paper said. “An-Nahar” listed three other points made by Soviet officials during 20 hours of talks with leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, headed by Yasser Arafat. — News agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Athens,] the Armed Forces today [Nov 25] snatched back power in Greece and shuffled out the seven-week-old civilian Govern­ment. The Army took over the centre of Athens at 05.00 local time … and six hours later Gen Fedon Gizikis, Commander of the First Army, was sworn in as the new Pre­si­dent. The fate of former President George Papadopoulos, one of a number of Army colonels who put an end to civilian rule in an April 1967 coup, was not known. His Presi­dential Palace was surrounded by troops.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2023