U.S. Administration spokesmen today sought to minimize the statement last night by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat that President Ford had promised him he would cause Israel to negotiate with Syria and with the Palestinians for a peace settlement. In a three-hour speech yesterday. Sadat said that Ford’s promises are part of secret Egyptian-American appendices to the formal Israeli-Egyptian Sinai accord.
Sadat’s remarks came as Aviation Week reported in its current issue that the U.S. has committed itself to provide Egypt with $5 billion in military assistance over the next five years.
According to information from Cairo, Sadat’s remarks translated into English included the following statement: “I have got an undertaking from the American President that Israel will not attack Syria, that a second disengagement will be concluded on the Syrian front and that the Palestinians will participate in a settlement.”
At the White House today, Presidential press secretary Ron Nessen declared that he did not feel Sadat was making a “revelation.” Nessen noted that Ford had said the U.S. would do what it could to make progress on a settlement on the Golan Heights and that the U.S. is committed to helping the process towards peace. That, Nessen said, is the subject of the negotiations.
State Department spokesman Robert Funseth said he would not comment “directly” on statements by “the various parties” to the Middle East negotiations. He noted that Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger had said the U.S. would be prepared to make a serious effort to encourage Syrian-Israeli negotiations. Funseth said he was “not in a position to make a qualitative definition of effort.” Regarding the Aviation Week report, Funseth recalled that the White House had said the U.S. would give “consideration” to Egypt’s military requests.
SADAT COMING WITH SHOPPING LIST
Aviation Week said that Sadat will come to Washington in October with a shopping list for military items. “Congress has been told Egyptian military aid will run about $1 billion a year for the next five years,” the magazine said. “His break with the Soviet and his move toward peace with Israel have improved his chances for obtaining some equipment but difficulties still are expected in Congress.”
Ford said military aid is on the Sadat agenda and there is an implied U.S. commitment. Sadat needs U.S. assurances now that he has severed most military relations with the Soviet, a senior defense official said, Aviation Week reported.
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