The State Department declined to comment today on remarks by the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohammed H. el-Zayyat on the CBS “Face The Nation” television program yesterday. Zayyat said he did not accept charges by some Arabs of United States complicity with Israel in the April 10 commando raids on terrorist headquarters in Lebanon.
He indicated that Egypt’s main diplomatic and military preoccupation is regaining the territories it lost to Israel in the 1967 war but that Egypt had no intention of attacking Israel proper. “We don’t have any intention to go and occupy Tel Aviv. That is the furthest thing removed from our thinking.” Zayyat said.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister characterized the Israeli commando raids and the slaying of three terrorist leaders in Beirut as “murder.” Referring to broadcasters on radio stations in Algiers, Tripoli, Cairo, Baghdad, Khartoum and Damascus who accused the U.S. of aiding the Israeli raiders, Zayyat said “I’m not including myself among them.” But he did accuse the U.S. of perpetuating Israel’s occupation of Sinai by permitting $500 million a year in arms sales to Israel.
“Nobody has asked the people of the United States if they really want to underwrite the occupation of the Sinai portion of Egypt.” he said. One State Department source observed privately today that the arms sales to Israel was legislated by the U.S. Congress which represents the will of the American people.
Zayyat expressed satisfaction with the United Nations’ scheduled review next month of overall Middle East policy. Egypt had suggested, at last week’s Security Council meetings, that Secretary General Kurt Waldheim prepare a report on the overall Middle East situation to date which would serve as a basis for the review. “We want the Security Council to meet to discuss as profoundly as it can, how to get us out of this situation,” he said.
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