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Middle East: Starting Over

3 minute read
TIME

Mubarak picks up the reins

On the surface, at least, Cairo was getting back to normal, as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak settled into his second week in office since the assassination of Anwar Sadat. Following the detention of suspected Muslim radicals, said by the government to number 350 but unofficially estimated at 1,500, Egypt’s universities reopened without incident. Troops continued to guard government offices and other public buildings, but there was no repetition of the strife that broke out in the southern Egyptian city of Asyut two days after Sadat’s death.

Mubarak ordered his government to launch an attack on the economic malaise that many analysts consider to be the main cause of the discontent that threatens his regime. He got a big assist from Washington: a pledge to provide some $275 million for the purchase of 1.5 million metric tons of wheat and flour. It is the largest sum given any country under the U.S. “Food for Peace” program.

The government’s probe of Sadat’s assassination continued to unearth new details about Egypt’s shadowy underground terrorist network. Nearly a month before the murder, agents had uncovered a plot to kill Sadat in the Nile delta town of Mansura. Sadat had actually been shown video and sound recordings of armed members of Islamic extremist groups who were plotting his assassination, but gave the matter little thought. Mubarak himself added more details about the conspiracy against Sadat. The objective of the killers, he said, was to “physically liquidate” all of Egypt’s top military, religious and political leadership in order to pave the way for an Iranian-style Islamic republic.

Egyptian officials said the mastermind of the plot was Abboud Zomor, a major in the Egyptian army who deserted several weeks before the assassination. Zomor was captured two weeks ago after a gun battle near the pyramids. The four other men captured immediately after the attack are now reported to be in good health, and will soon be tried and, if found guilty of murder, presumably executed.

Mubarak was also making a cautious effort to rebuild Egypt’s relations with the Arab states that have shunned Cairo since Sadat boldly made his separate peace with Israel. Even so, he sent a delegation to Israel to resume negotiations on the Palestinian autonomy talks. Mubarak urged the Israelis to “be more flexible on matters of principle.” A similar plea was made by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Samuel Lewis. But the Israelis showed scant signs of modifying their refusal to grant the Palestinians any real autonomy. The talks that Sadat began still have a long way to go. –

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