EGYPT: Cock of the Walk

Egypt bathed in jubilation over Premier Nasser's arms deal with the Communists. "So now we will be meeting Mystères with MIGs," said Nasser, matching his deal with Czechoslovakia against Israel's purchase of Mystère IV jets from France. Nasser insisted that the Czech trade was strictly "a one-shot deal," and no Communist technicians would accompany the arms. The Westerners were only partly reassured; the British tartly reminded Nasser that the 1954 Anglo-Egyptian pact calls for the reactivation by Britain of Suez Canal air bases in the event of an attack on Turkey,...

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