BEIRUT: Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia declared in a newspaper interview published today [April 25] that the Arab countries can defeat Israel in any new Middle East war. Asked what would be the alternative if a reconvened Arab-Israeli peace conference at Geneva failed to resolve the Middle East crisis, Crown Prince Fahd said: “We will cross that bridge when we come to it … any way, I am confident the Arabs can repeat their October 1973 victory. …” [The interview] took on added importance because of Prince Fahd’s leading role in the new Saudi regime of King Khalid.

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies,] a high-level conference held in Karachi … decided to round up all notorious smugglers of food grains, wool and hides and skin with a view to stabilising their prices at home. It was also decided that patrolling operations along the nation’s frontiers be intensified… . The Federal Interior Minister … presided over the … meeting. … The meeting was of the view that a crackdown on real smugglers, and not merely their carriers, was essential at a time when Rabi harvesting was going on. … Some of these smugglers are living outside Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025