1.
GV TIRAN STRAITS
0.06

2.
LV EBAN WITH TROOPS
0.11

3.
CU DITTO
0.15

4.
LV TROOPS SEATED ON GROUND IN FRONT OF EBAN ON PORCH
0.18

5.
CU EBAN SEATED AT TABLE ON PORCH SPEAKING (SOF)
2.03


TRANSCRIPT: EBAN: "THE SPEECH OF NASSER AT BIR GAFGAFA ON MAY 22, 1967 WAS A SPEECH OF WAR. TWO YEARS LATER I COME TO SPEAK OF PEACE. NASSER SPEECH WAS TO BE THE DEATH WARRANT OF ISRAEL. TWO YEARS LATER ISRAEL IS CONCERNED TO WRITE A LIFE WARRANT FOR A RENASCENT MIDDLE EAST. TWO YEARS AGO NASSER SAID IF THERE IS TO BE WAR, WELCOME. TODAY I SAY, IF OUR NEIGHBOURS WANT PEACE, WELCOME TO PEACE. THERE CAN BE NO SERIOUS DOUBT OF ISRAEL'S ABILITY TO DEFEND HER INTERESTS, BUT OUR VISION IS OF PEACE TO BE FREELY NEGOTIATED, TO BE EXPRESSED IN TREATIES, TO EXPRESS THE AGREEMENTS OF THE PARTIES, TO FIX FINALLY THE SECURELY-AGREED BOUNDARIES OF OUR STATES, AND ABOVE ALL TO EXPRESS THE INDEPENDENCE OF OUR REGION. POWERS OUTSIDE THIS REGION CAN INFLUENCE ITS DESTINY FOR GOOD AND FOR ILL. BUT THE MIDDLE EAST HAS NOW COME OUT OF THE PERIOD OF TUTELAGE, DEPENDENCY AND COLONIALISM. THIS IS THE ERA OF MIDDLE EAST SOVEREIGNTY. LET US BRING DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVE BACK WHERE IT BELONGS, IN THE MIDDLE EAST, ITSELF, SO THAT ITS PEOPLE, RISING ABOVE VICTORY AND ABOVE DEFEAT CAN, ACROSS THEIR ANGRY SEPARATION, FIND COMMON GROUND. IF THESE WORDS ARE LISTENED TO ACROSS THOSE NARROW SEAS, THEN SOON OR LATE THIS INTERNATIONAL WATERWAY WILL BE KNOWN IN HISTORY NOT AS A CRADLE OF PAST WARS BUT AS A BRIDGE TO FUTURE PEACE".




Initials JH/VS/CR/PC



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: 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.