Congressman Discloses U.S. Secretly Sold Military Equipment to Egypt After 1967 War

A Republican Congressman disclosed today that the United States has secretly sold military equipment to Egypt since the June, 1967 Six-Day War. According to Rep. R. Lawrence Coughlin of Pennsylvania, the sales were authorized by the Johnson Administration after the war and deliveries took place during fiscal 1969. Rep. Coughlin said the items shipped to Egypt were military communications equipment, generators and spare parts valued at $300,000. They were paid for by the Egyptian Defense Ministry, he said.

He expressed dismay that export licenses for war material were issued by the State Department despite the fact that Egypt broke diplomatic relations with the U.S. and the presence of thousands of Soviet Army advisers and technicians in that country. Rep. Coughlin said such a policy was unfair to Israel which depends upon U.S. arms purchases and was contrary to the national security interests of the U.S.

Meanwhile, the office of Gen, Robert Warren, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military assistance and sales, has confirmed that $1.4 million worth of military equipment has been sold to Egypt between the fiscal years 1962-1968. A determination was apparently made after the Six-Day War to continue a secret policy of supplying Egypt with a limited quantity of equipment and spare parts that Cairo could not obtain from Russia. U.S. arms are also supplied to Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the three Persian Gulf sheikhdoms of Qatar, Bahrein and Abu Dhabi.

Rep. Coughlin said he intended to pursue the issue of arms sales that he considers “counter-productive” and a threat to peace. He charged that the Government’s worldwide arms sales policy was such that it “brought down friendly governments, bankrupted treasuries and encouraged the outbreak of wars.”