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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JULY 23, 1982
PAGE 9
Iran, notes the TIME report, is four times the size of Iraq and has a popu
lation that is three times as large. While active fighting has re-erupted
along the Shatt al Arab, Khomeini's forces� believed to be plotting the
overthrow of every government. in the
-9...!:Ll:__i.
TIME learned that a new corps of
revolutionaries is oe1ng trained un�the name of the Popular Front for
the Liberation of the Gulf. The group is led by an ayatollah operating out
�Tehran. Recrui�are said to be undergoing training in South Yemen and
Libya and in a new facility recently opened for a class of 600 in northwest
ern Iran.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is so concerned over Khomeini's radicalism
that he is seriously considering a proposal to station several divisions of
Egyptian soldiers along the borders of Iraq in Kuwait and in the eastern
province of Saudi Arabia. In return, Egypt would insist on the restoration
of diplomatic relations that were broken off by most of the gulf states
following the conclusion of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.
Mubarak
knows that such a scheme involves risks. Continues the TIME story:
Such a move not only might antagonize Egypt's generals, but would
also anger the Islamic fundamentalists in the country. It was
the fundamentalists who assassinated President Sadat last
October, and they remain a threat in spite of Mubarak's crack
downs. Nonetheless, Mubarak is prepared to offer Egyptian troops
to defend Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the other gulf states, under
the terms of the JO-year-old Joint Arab Defense Pact, if the
arrangement is approved by the states involved and supported
militarily by the U.S. Considering Mubarak's reluctance to send
forces anywhere outside Egypt, the current discussion of such a
mission is an indication of how worried he is about the spread of
Islamic revolution.
Even some of Khomeini's friends are upset about the Iranian inva
sion of Iraq. The P.L.O., which has generally supported Khomeini
out of deference to Syria, is furious with the Iranians for
launching an invasion that can only divert attention frem the
Palestinians' plight in Lebanon••..Not that such an argument
would carry much weight with the ruler of Iran, which has once
more become the primary power of the gulf. If the Palestinians
want Jerusalem as the capital of� state of ili'err-own, Khomeini
wants it� the goal of� holy crusade.
The same issue of TIME contained an interview with King Hussein of Jordan.
In response to questions about the possible outcome of Iran-Iraq fighting,
he said:
I really believe Iraq is very, very important to the future of
the entire area. It is the route to Saudi Arabia, the gulf, to
the heart of the region.•••This [Islamic fundamentalist] movement
takes its direction from Tehran, and it is like a tidal wave.
Eventually it will disappear. But what damage it-can cause in
this area! It could take many governments with it.
Mrs. Thatcher's Greatest Challenge
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's popularity among the British people
continues at a high mark, the result of two remarkable victories, one