France helps Egypt in arms industry

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34027, 16 December 1975, Page 21

France helps Egypt in arms industry

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) CAIRO, December 15. President Valery Giscard d’Estaing will leave for home today after a five-day visit which resulted in agreement on French-Egyptian co-operation in setting up an arms industry.

The agreement was announced in a joint communique issued at the end of Mr Giscard d’Estaing’s visit, the first by a French President to Egypt.

The communique did not spell out precisely how France would participate in the SUSB,OOO million project but French sources said that

their country’s contribution would cover licences for the construction of French combat aircraft and missiles.

The agreement is in line with President Anwar Sadat’s declared aim to diversify Egypt’s almost exclusively Soviet-made arsenal and was seen here as another big step in his efforts to bind Egypt —for more than 16 years the Soviet Union’s closest ally in the Middle East — firmly to the West. In a dinner speech last night, Mr Sadat described the French decision as historic and left no doubt over his pleasure in having secured French military assistance.

The agreement drew an angry reaction from Israel, where Government officials described it as a major obstacle to peace. According to the communique, France also agreed on extensive co-operation in developing the Egyptian economy, bled white by three wars with Israel and past

spending on pan-Arab causes.

It specified a long list o f projects to be implemented with French help, ranging from the construction of an underground transport system for Cairo to mining and housing schemes in the Suez Canal area.