France May Lift Arms Embargo on Middle East Countries

The French government is considering lifting the arms embargo imposed by General Charles de Gaulle in 1967 and reaffirmed by President Georges Pompidou in Jan. 1969. French sources say that a committee of officials belonging to several ministries has been entrusted with a thorough study of the political, economic and strategic implications of such a move.

This study has been decided upon, these sources say, at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting which examined the new situation created Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s open admission that Libyan Mirages are stationed in Egypt and have participated in the fighting of the Yom Kippur War in violation of the Franco-Libyan agreement.

There was no official confirmation to these reports besides a statement made yesterday by government spokesman Andre Rossi that “the government has decided to reexamine the embargo policy.”

HISTORY OF THE EMBARGO

The embargo was first imposed in “selective” form on June 3, 1967. Historians generally believe that de Gaulle thought at the time that it would deter Israel from opening hostilities. In Jan. 1969, after the Israeli raid on Beirut Airport, President Pompidou made it “total” barring all French arms sales to any of the countries “directly involved in the fighting.” According to French interpretation the embargo applied to Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Syria. Israel was the only country in the Middle East at the time to rely on French hardware.

Since its early days, the embargo has been regularly broken or otherwise turned by most countries involved. Israel has regularly charged that French arms sold to Libya and Iraq have ended up on Israel’s borders. The Arabs, on the other hand, charged that Israel continued to receive throughout the embargo spare parts for her Mirages as well as for the manufacture of an Israeli-made fighter-bomber.

ECONOMIC ROLE OF ARMS EXPORT

During the recent Presidential campaign, Valery Giscard d’Estaing made it clear that in his view France should abstain from selling arms to all belligerent nations on condition that the big powers do the same. Otherwise, he said. France should try to maintain a certain “security equilibrium” in areas of tension.

The French President, who served for 10 years as Minister of Finance, is, however, certainly aware of the important role arms exports play in France’s economy and that one worker out of four engaged in the manufacture of weapons works for a foreign country. Political observers here believe that faced with the choice between imposing a total embargo on all the Middle East or lifting all restrictions, the President will choose the latter option.