ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER ABBA EBAN SPOKE TO ISRAELI TROOPS AT SHARM EL SHEIKH ON THE STRAITS OF TIRAN YESTERDAY (THURSDAY) IN HIS FIRST VISIT TO THE FORMER EGYPTIAN OUTPOST SINCE THE SIX-DAY WAR. SHARM EL SHEIKH, AT THE SOUTHERN TIP OF THE SINAI PENINSULA, WAS CAPTURED BY ISRAELI TROOPS IN THE WAR OF JUNE, 1967.

MR. ENAM RECALLED PRESIDENT NASSER'S SPEECH IN SINAI ON THE EVE OF WAR AND SAID THAT IT HAD BEEN A SPEECH OF WAR. "TWO YEARS LATER I COME TO SPEAK OF PEACE".

MR. EBAN'S VISIT YESTERDAY WAS EXACTLY TWO YEARS AFTER PRESIDENT NASSER CLOSED THE STRAITS OF TIRAN AND ORDERED TROOPS OF THE UNITED NATIONS PEACE-KEEPING FORCE TO LEAVE.

THE FOREIGN MINISTER LATER ELABORATED HIS REMARKS IN AN INTERVIEW AND SAID THAT ISRAEL WAS DETERMINED TO MAINTAIN ACCESS TO THE SOUTHERNMOST PORT OF EILAT.