War kept strict secret

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33387, 20 November 1973, Page 23

War kept strict secret

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter —Copyrights CAIRO. The Egyptian War Minister (General Ahmed Ismail) has said that President Anwar Sadat and he were the only men who knew the date for the October war before the count-down started one month previously. Mr Mohammed Hassanein Heykal, editor of “Al Ahram,” quoted him as saying that the secret was kept so close that some of the vanguard troops knew of it only 48 hours before fighting began on October 6. In the first account of the planning and conduct of the war, General Ismail said that he considered it a double victory. “I managed to get my troops out safe after the naked American interference in the battle. My troops are not only intact and capable of fighting but also firm on their position on the east side of the Suez Canal.” General Ismail, said that Israeli strong and weak points had been considered carefully before the decision of the war was taken. He had decided to launch the war along a 180-kilo-metres line to force the Israelis to disperse their counter air attacks and to make it difficult for them to discover the main direction of the Egyptian troops. General Ismail said that the timing of the fighting remained a subject for discussion with Syria until a few days before the war. The Syrians wanted to start at daybreak because of the direction of the sun while Egypt, for the same reason, wanted to start at sunset. As general commander of the Syrian and Egyptian Armed Forces, General Ismail said that he informed the

Syrians on September 30 of the code name of the war. This was “Badr” after the first battle between Mohammed and his opponents about 1400 years ago. General Ismail said that the [day was chosen because of I certain advantages to Egypt lin it. These were: a moonlit night during the crucial hours, a suitable current in the Suez Canal to help the crossing of the Egyptian troops to the east bank, the Israelis were not expecting an Egyptian attack during the fasting month of Ramadan and were busy with forthcoming General Elections. i Zero hour was fixed after a visit to Damascus on October 2 for talks with President Hafez al-Assad, who approved the plan, the general said. General Ismail said at Zero, ■ —2 p.m. (local) on October 6 I—2oo Egyptian planes and 1100 Syrian planes attacked I the enemy's sensitive posiItions. Simultaneously 2000 [guns were thundering and | the first waves of Egyptian kroops crossed the canal. ; General Ismail said that I these comprised 8000 soldiers I who crossed in dinghies. | Under cover of the barrage the second and third Egyptian Armies began to build | pontoon bridges across the [canal. The Second Army, ■which was on the northern [part of the canal front, established its bridges on time. The Third Army, in the south, ran • into difficulties because of the I [nature of the land. [ General Ismail said that! [within 24 hours there were [five full divisions on the [eastern bank. [ Asked why the army did [not develop its attack after its success in crossing the [canal, General Ismail said [that the attack was launched [under the cover of the misisile network. I “I had to wait and to make sure that my troops had the [necessary cover. Whether or not we were slower than necessary I do not know. I adhered to the plan.” Asked about the Israeli

infiltration through the Deversoir area to the western bank of the canal, General Ismail said: “The first information I received said a small group of tanks has infiltrated and the local command estimation was that it could be overcome quickly and in fact the local commander moved j a shock battalion against the; infiltrators. “There had also been an interruption in the information because of an exchange of responsibilities due to emergency circumstances in some commands. The enemy succeeded in hiding its tanks and threw all its weight behind the operation.” General Ismail said that the Israeli gap was “unnatural,” adding: “We will investigate to find out the reasons. However should this gap affect the value of what we have achieved?” Israeli losses, according to American estimates were 3000 killed, 20,000 wounded, 970 tanks knocked out and 150 planes shot down, but the real numbers were far higher, he said. The general said that Egyptian losses were far less than those of the June, 1967, war, “But I do not want to talk about them now.” General Ismail said that Egyptians captured by October 16 were between 60 and 70, mostly from the shock forces dropped behind the Israeli lines. The large numbers of the Egyptian prisoners, said to be! more than 8000, came after I the Israeli infiltration, the; surrounding of administrative i posts and the arrest of; civilian villagers in the area,; he said. General Ismail said that thel war had broken the deadlock; 1 over the Middle East, changed the Egyptian image in the world and proved to Israel that its logic of secure borders was vulnerable. He did not expect Israel to understand these changes. “It will be stubborn in understanding, therefore the resumption of fighting seems for me very likely at any time,” General Ismail said.