LAHORE: President Fazal Elahi Chaudhry said here today [Nov 16] that the next general election will be held according to the schedule. He was talking to newsmen at the Lahore airport. … On his attention being drawn … to the publication of draft electoral rolls, which have given rise to speculations that the elections may be held before the schedule, the President said there was no likelihood of the country going to the polls before the schedule. The publication of electoral rolls, he remarked, was a constitutional necessity which had been fulfilled.

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Saida, Southern Lebanon], reports that Israeli tanks moving towards the Golan front have been spotted since 8 p.m. yesterday [Nov 15] all along the Lebanese-Israeli border heightened tension in the Middle East, and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger issued a stern warning both to Israel and Arabs that “anyone who wantonly starts a war will be putting himself into very dubious relationship”. Dr Kissinger’s warning implied that such a country could not expect “approval” from either the [US] or the Soviet Union which will be US President Ford’s host… . … PLO leader Yasser Arafat said in Havana … that Israel was preparing a surprise attack to try to make up for losses during the Ramazan … war in 1973.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2024