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LIBYA
nattctsm and secular revolutionar–
ies, to say nothing of Soviet med–
dling in an attempt to gain a deeper
foothold in this most vital energy–
rich region.
A Fltful Start Toward Peace
lt is against this background of
continuous turmoi l that one sees
the magnitude of the peace effort
launched by Egypt's late President
Anwar Sadat in November, 1977.
Mr. Sadat electrified the world
with his visit to the Israelí Knesset
(parliament) in Jerusalem and his
courageous offer of peace...You
would like to live with us in this
region of the world," Mr. Sadat
told Israel 's assembled leaders,
..and 1 tell you in all honesty that
we welcome you among us."
Now this was a genuine peace
offer- undiluted and straight from
the heart.
Thus was launched the Mideast
peace process. It began between
Egypt and Israel and culminated in
the Camp David agreements of
1978 and the peace treaty between
the two nations in 1979.
It
is unlikely that anything–
even lsrael's announced annexation
of the former Syrian Golan Heights
area last December- will block the
next major step in the Camp David
process. On April 25 of this year,
the last portion of the Israeli-occu–
pied Sinai is to be returned to
February 1982
EGYPT
Egyptian contro l, marking the
complete restoration of Egyptian
territorial integrity.
Egypt Needs Peace
While sorne Mideast observers
wonder about Egypt's course of
action after April 25, it should be
obvious that Cairo is not about to
put its control of the Sinai-which
it lost in the 1967. war with
Israel- in jeopardy once again.
Egypt desperately needs peace to
tackle its monumental domestic
problems. Already overcrowded
with 43 million people-half of
whom are under 15 years of age–
Egypt adds one million more
mouths to feed every year. And
these mouths are fed with a food
supply of which half is imported.
Wheat from the United States
alone goes into one out of every
three loaves of bread baked in
Egypt.
[n order to keep domestic peace,
the Egyptian government subsi–
dizes the cost of food so heavily
that the price of a loaf of bread is
still only about two cents- t he
same price as a quarter century
ago.
(Jt
was Mr. Sadat's decision to
raise the price by one penny that
triggered massive food riots in J an–
uary, 1977. The decision was re–
scinded.)
Despite the subsidies, which
divert funds badly needed else-
PRECARIOUS PEACE IN VOLATILE MID–
DLE EAST: In April, Egypt and Israel com·
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plete normalization of relations, with
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Egypt regaining fu/1 sovereignty over the
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Sinai Península, lost to Israel in the 1967
j
war. But tensions abound elsewhere in
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the Middle East: lran and lraq continue at
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war; Lebanon is torn by civil strife;
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Soviet·backed Libya remains a threat to
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its neighbors.
where, Egypt's poor people- the
vast percentage of the population–
still spend 60 percent of their mea–
ger earnings on food.
A concerted effort on the part of
the government, launched in 1974,
has resu1ted in the formation of top
leve! national councils designed to
lay down long term strategies to
improve all aspects of Egyptian life
by the year 2000.
It
will be a tough
task-and peace is the very corner–
stone to its success.
Deallng wlth Extremlsm
President Hosni Mubarak has
promised his people that he also
will take a firm hand in dealing
with the religious extremism that
erupted in Egypt in the last few
months of President Sadat's rule–
and ultimately led to his death.
Shortly before Mr. Sadat's vio–
lent end, Egypt had been in the
throes of mounting internal unrest,
aggravated, if not actual ly orches–
trated by Sov iet agents, who
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