The Egyptian press and radio seems bent on generating war fever among the population while Egyptian Foreign Ministry officials are warning diplomats from abroad that the Middle East situation is potentially more dangerous than the war presently going on between India and Pakistan. The theme of Cairo newspapers and radio broadcasts yesterday and today was that war with Israel is inevitable because all political solutions have been exhausted to regain Egypt’s lost territory. This echoed recent statements by President Anwar Sadat to Egyptian troops and airmen. Sadat was pictured by the Cairo press as devoting full time to his recently assumed role as commander-in-chief of Egypt’s armed forces.
Sadat is expected to make further war threats tomorrow when he addresses the central committee of the Arab Socialist Union, Egypt’s only political party. Observers here believe the generation of war fever is intended to convince world leaders that the Middle East, not the Indian subcontinent is the most dangerous tinder-box. According to observers, the Egyptians see a relative quiet in the Mideast as tending to perpetuate the status-quo which at present is the continued occupation of the Sinai by Israel.
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