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Committee members keep their names almost a military secret. One of the few known personalities among them is big, burly Colonel Mohammed Rashad Mehanna, 42, who acts as liaison man between the committee and Aly Maher's cabinet, in which he sits as Minister of Communications. A religious nationalist and supporter of the Moslem Brotherhood, Mehanna's is the voice that urges Naguib toward an all-out dictatorship, anti-British, antiChristian, anti-Jewish. He is opposed by Wing Commander Anwar el Sadat, who urges Naguib to leave political business to those who understand it—or think they do—and to stick to the army.
So far, Naguib has managed to rein in the hot-bloods, keep the opposing factions pulling together. But a serious feud in the Officers Committee could stop Egypt's revolution in its tracks.
Can He Hang On? The odds against Naguib are formidable. Reform in Egypt (or anywhere else in the Middle East) is not simply a matter of passing laws against sin. Corruption is not only the result of greediness among the rich; to millions, it is almost a way of life, prompted by insecurity, hopelessness, and fear of what tomorrow may bring—or take away. To sweep out corruption, as he has promised, Naguib will have to break the stubborn power of the landowning pashas, who are fighting him every inch of the way; he will also have to rebuild Egyptian society from the bottom up. The question is whether he has the skill to do it—or the time.
Everywhere he goes today Egypt's people cheer him and call his revolution "the blessed movement." But unless Naguib can soon produce more concrete benefits for the man in the street and in the fields, the mood may change. Naguib has ordered all parties to purge themselves. "We have had enough of corruption!" he cried. But the Wafd, Egypt's largest and most graft-ridden party, which Naguib turned out together with Farouk, only laughed in his face and is scheming day and night to recapture power. Its big wheels, Mustafa Nahas (ex-Premier) and Serag el Din, used the magic word "purge" to get rid of their rivals, then started plotting to get rid of Naguib. Their plan is to smear Naguib as unpatriotic for failing to throw the British out of Suez and the Sudan. Naguib's counterplan: a stiff electoral reform law, excluding men of "known dishonesty" from political office.
The Reds are also working hard against Naguib. Joining hands with other malcontents, they staged a series of wild strikes, intended to rock the new regime before it could settle down. Six thousand cotton-mill workers ran amuck, smashing their looms, burning factories, stoning the police. "Treason," said Naguib. "The punishment is death." Armored cars beat back the mob; nine were killed. A military tribunal tried the ringleaders for treason.