Letter: A lot of gas

ONLY after six years is it revealed that the Israeli plane which crashed in Amsterdam was carrying hundreds of litres of nerve gas precursor ("Israel fails to calm Dutch anger over 'nerve gas' crash", 4 October), although the evidence had long been available in the cargo manifest. No action will be taken, certainly not against Israel. The US attack on the factory in Khartoum on 20 August was justified on the dubious evidence of soil samples and the statements of unnamed informers. Does one not detect a trace of hypocrisy in the Western reactions to the two events?

CHARLES HUGHES

Felixstowe, Suffolk