Middle East News

Israel provoked Six-Day War, says former Dutch UN observer

Jun 5, 2007, 8:51 GMT

Amsterdam - A former Dutch UN observer has said Israel was not under siege by Arab countries preceding the Six-Day War, the 40th anniversary of which falls Tuesday, and that the Jewish state provoked most border incidents as part of its strategy to annex more land.

Speaking on a Dutch current affairs programme late Monday, Jan Muhren, who was stationed interchangeably at the Golan Heights and the West Bank in 1966-67, says neither Jordan nor Syria had any intention to start a war with Israel.

Meanwhile, it was announced Tuesday that Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Verhagen will take 10 Dutch teenagers with him on his upcoming trip to the Middle East. The 10 are Christian, Muslim, Jewish and atheist.

A foreign affairs spokesman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur