A State Department spokesman would neither confirm nor deny today that the Ford Administration is prepared to support Egypt’s request for U.S. military equipment. The spokesman was asked by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about press reports that the Administration is close to deciding to consult with Congressional leaders on ending the long-standing ban on the sale of military hardware to Egypt.
The press reports mentioned, among items Egypt is said to be seeking to purchase in the U.S., “Hawk” anti-aircraft missiles, wire-guided TOW anti-tank weapons, radar and communications equipment, patrol boats, F-5E jet fighters and C-130 military transports. With respect to the latter, State Department spokesman John Trattner told newsmen at a briefing last Monday that the U.S. has projected the sale of six C-130s to Egypt with expected delivery this spring.
The subsequent press reports said that President Ford and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger had mentioned the sale of C-130s to Egypt to Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin during their talks here a week ago. Questioned about this report today, the State Department spokesman told the JTA, “We are not going to get into a point-by-point discussion” of the Rabin talks.
U.S. PROCEEDING WITH CAUTION
According to the press reports from Washington, high Administration officials have said that various recommendations on how to proceed toward lifting the ban on arms sales to Egypt were under consideration at the White House but no “final decision” has been reached. Administration sources are stressing, according to the reports, that the Administration intends to exercise the utmost candor in approaching Congress on military sales to Egypt because being too secretive about such deals in the past proved counter-productive.
Furthermore, according to the reports, the Administration is proceeding with caution because of the extreme political sensitivity of the issue in this election year. In discussing military sales to Egypt with Congress, Administration spokesmen are expected to point out that Israel will be getting even more, so that the balance will be maintained, the reports said.
Ford and Kissinger are known to have heard with sympathy Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s wishes for U.S. military equipment to bolster Egypt’s armed forces since the decline in deliveries of military hardware from the Soviet Union. Ford said, in an interview last September, that he had an implied commitment to provide Egypt with certain equipment. Sadat discussed Egypt’s military needs with Ford when he was in Washington last October.
The press reports said Egypt would pay cash for whatever hardware it purchases in the U.S. The Egyptians have been promised help from Saudi Arabia to finance their purchases here, according to the reports.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
