Soviet arms shipment to Egypt resumed

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33773, 20 February 1975, Page 15

Soviet arms shipment to Egypt resumed

(N.Z.P.A.-P.euter—Copyright)

CAIRO, February 19. The Egyptian Foreign Minister (Mr Ismail Fahmi) has said that the Soviet Union had resumed arms shipments to his country.

And, in what observers said appeared to be a new condition for attendance at the Geneva Middle East peace conference, Mr Fahmi declared last night that Egypt would not go until it had been compensated for all weapons lost during the 1973 war with Israel.

In a wide-ranging foreign policy statement to Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, Mr Fahmi also said he was prepared to accept arms from any country.

“Reports that the Soviet Union has resumed shipments of some kinds of arms to Egypt are correct.” The Foreign Minister did not specify the weapon types. He said the arms deliveries stemmed from a deal concluded with Moscow two-and-a-half years ago. Further arms deals and Soviet military assistance would have to be discussed when the Soviet party leader, Mr Leonid Brezhnev, visited Egypt, he said. President Anwar Sadat recently said that Mr Brezhnev would make his visit soon.

Jerusalem concession

In an apparent concession over Jerusalem, Mr Fahmi said that the only way to solve the problem was for the city to be internationalised.

In another condition regarding the Geneva conference, Mr Fahmi said that Egypt would not attend unless the parties involved, particularly the United States and the Soviet Union, agreed that the first decision to be taken should be to invite the Palestine Liberation Organisation (P.L.0.) to attend "at the appropriate stage.”

He also said that Egypt expected a further military disengagement agreement with Israel on the Egyptian and Syrian fronts by June.

He said: "Our target at this stage is an Israeli withdrawal from the Mitla and Giddi passes and all oilfields in Sinai.” But he warned: “We must get these oilfields intact and in a productive state or else there will be no deal with Israel.” Relations with Europe Mr Fahmi said that Egyptian relations with Western Europe were good. 1 He said that a French delegation was expected shortly for preliminary studies for building a nuclear power station in Egypt. Relations with West Germany were improving, especially in the fields of economy and technology. The West German Foreign Minister (Mr Hans-Dietrich Genscher) was expected soon in Cairo to discuss details of a project to generate electricity by flooding the Qattara depression in the western desert.

Studies for the project would be completed in 18 months instead of three years, as originally planned, he said. He said that he would visit London in April and that the British Government had asked him to extend his visit from three to five days.

Mr Fahmi said that a French economic delegation was due shortly in Cairo for

talks with the Egyptian Petroleum Minister on the participation of France in oil exploration. He said that relations with the Netherlands had improved and he had renewed an invitation to the Dutch Foreign Minister to visit Egypt.

War threat , Mr Fahmi said Egypt would go to war with Israel again if it failed to achieve its aims through peaceful methods. He said: “If through diplomacy we find that we have reached a dead end, then it will become inevitable for us to resort once again to our Armed Forces who have proved on the battlefield their high efficiency and combat capabilities.” Drew Middleton, of the “New York Times,” reported that the Soviet Union had resumed the shipment of advanced weapons to Egypt by delivering six MiG23 fighters, according to United States intelligence sources. The introduction of the supersonic MiG23s in Egypt, after the delivery of 45 of these planes to Syria and 40 to Iraq, is expected to alter the balance of air power in the Middle East.

Air Force sources in the United States and abroad regard the MiG23 as more manoeuverable and slightly faster than the F 4 Phantoms, which are the cutting edge of the Israeli Air Force. Egypt now deploys about 200 MiG2l fighters armed with air-to-air missiles as the core of its interceptor force. Four squadrons

British and French sources, interviewed by telephone, described the six MiG23s, which were recently landed by freighter at Alexandria, as the first instalment of 48, or enough for four squadrons. The Russians, according to these and Israeli sources, also have promised to deliver T 62 tanks and surface-to-air missiles to Egypt. The MiG23, which has been given the code name Flogger by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, is a single seat, variable wing tactical fighter designed to intercept hostile aircraft and to strike targets in enemy territory with missiles. Qualified sources in Washington did not see any immediate danger to Israel arising from the shipments. ‘They said that Egyptian pilots ■ were not generally considered on a par with the

Israelis and it would take some time for the Egyptians to learn to handle the plane.

Training in Russia

Egyptian pilots are expected to be sent to the Soviet Union for training. The American intelligence community believes that President Anwar Sadat does not want Soviet military advisers returning to Egypt in strength. President Sadat expelled 6000 Soviet military staff and technicians from Egypt in July, 1972. North Atlantic and Israeli sources do not take as optimistic a view of Israel’s air situation as do some Americans.

Egypt recently ordered 44 advanced fighters from France.

They include 22 Mirage Fls, an all-weather interceptor with a high altitude speed of 2.2 times the speed of sound, and 22 Mirage FlEs, a fighter suitable for both attack and interception and slightly faster than the Fl. The FIE will be delivered in the late 19705, according to French sources.