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Gaafar el Numeiry, President of
Sudan. His nation is slated to
join the newly created Arab
Federation in the near future.
Th~
PLAIN TRUTii
partners with the food-raising farm–
lands. Its armed forces - Soviet sup·
plied aod t rained - are Moscow's
second insurance policy for a foothold
in the Middle East should Egypt flop.
Egypt with its 34 million people -
many of them overtrained in terms of
the needs of its own economy - could
provide its neighbors with technicians
and labor. Of course Egypt's army, the
most powerful of the Arab armies - in
terms of equipment and manpower -
would serve as the defender of the
member countries from "Imperialist and
Zionist aggrcssion."
Libya's Role
While Syria is separated from Egypt
and Libya by 300 miles, the others share
a common bordee. Obviously, a strong
unifying factor in the Federation is the
present conflict with Israel. It is very
sobering for the Syrians to know that
Damascus is Jess than 40 miles from
Israel's front lines.
Since Libya is further away from the
Israelí bordee, it is expected that one
would hear bellicose dcclarations from
President Qaddafi. (As a twenty-nine–
year-old strong man, he tends to be
more extremist ; and, of course, the dis·
tan
ce
f
rom the Israelí bordee does tend
to give more courage than Damascus
might muster.)
Qaddafi said to a crowd in Tripoli:
"If
we were on the Jordanian frontier,
we would have participated in a war
against King Hussein, and called for
the guerrillas to ovcrthrow Jordan's
government."
As the irony of events unfolded, it
was Jordan who overthrew the guer–
rillas, sorne of whom have fied to Israel
offering their services to fight
W1TH
the
Israelí army against the Arabs!
It
is reported that Libya played a
major role in the attempted overthrow
of King El Hasan of Morocco. And it
was Libya again that called for an emer–
gency summit meeting to discuss the
Jordanian guerrilla conflict. Libyan
authorities even advocated military
intervention
against
King Hussein and
the expulsion of Jordan from the
14
member nations of the Arab League.
One is forced to ask the question:
How can such a Federation last, when
its member nations hold such opposite
Novembet 1971
views regarding vital issues? Egypt
tends to be comparatively moderate,
Libya is obviously extremist, while
Damascus has adopted a temporary pol–
icy of silence after a very bellicose re–
cent history.
Political Upheaval in Egypt
The Federation has even been the
cause of heated bickerings inside Egypt.
Ali Sabry, the former Vice President
aod leader of the Arab Socialist Union
( Egypt's only legal political party),
vigorously opposed the Federation. He
argued that the other member countries
would attempt to dictate policy in mat–
ters of interna! Egyptian affairs. There
is no doubt that Libya would have a
strong hand by virtue of its financia!
capabilities.
Sabry went as far as organizing a
coup d'etat with the help of the war
and interior ministers, to oust Sadat.
Sadat's house was bugged with listening
dcvices by his own security officers. lt
wasn't until American security men -
accompanying Secretary of State Rogers,
who was visiting Egypt in a bid to find
a solution to the Arab-lsraeli conRict –
had uncovered the bugging devices, that
Sadat knew what was going on. The
coup was unsuccessful and Sadat
emerged as Egypt's strong man.
It is quite obvious that the local Com–
munists in the Arab countries want no
part
in
a Federation.
It
is also reported
that other Communists abroad are of the
same opinion. A strong nation uniting
severa! Arab countries would become
strong enough on its own. Dependence
on the Soviet Union would decrease, re–
sulting in a substantial slicing of Krem–
lin influence. Moscow might not accept
this with open arms.
Meanwhile, a United States of Arab
Nations might begin to flex its military
and political muscles. This could in–
flame the
dangero11s
Arab-Israeli con–
Rict.
The Arabs might now look upon
themselves as equal to the task of de–
feating Israel. In other directions, an
expanded Arab Federation might begin
to stand up to Europe. (TI1e United
$tates at present has little influence in
the Arab wodd.)
The Federation could pressure Europe
in many ways. Take one example: Libya
produces 3.4 million barreis of oil per