Egypt steps up anti-Israel rhetoric
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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, June 5, 2001
CAIRO Ñ The regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has escalated
threats of a Middle East war.
Senior aides of Mubarak have warned Israel of the prospect of war should
the Jewish state attack the Palestinian Authority. The aides asserted that
the Egyptian military is ready for any prospect, including a war with
Israel.
"The Egyptian armed forces are ready to deter aggression," Defense
Minister Hussein Tantawi said. "They are ready to carry out instructions."
The escalation in rhetoric began last week on the eve of the
commemoration of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war in which Egypt lost the Sinai
peninsula to Israel. Egyptian officials were quoted in the state-run media
as vowing that Cairo will not be again defeated in a war with Israel.
Ibrahim Saada, editor-in-chief of the state-owned Al Ahram daily and
regarded as a spokesman for Mubarak, said in an article entitled "War or
Peace" that Egypt is ready to confront any danger to its borders and to
retaliate against any operation ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon.
Samir Ragab, another confidante of Mubarak, agreed. Ragab blamed the
Egyptian defeat in 1967 on the rivalry between the military and
government. Under Mubarak, Ragab said, that rivalry has been eliminated.
"The recurrence of the 1967 debacle is remote for a host of reasons,"
Ragab said. "The Egyptian army is constantly kept in excellent shape in
terms of training and armaments. It is prepared for any eventuality. The
1967 defeat is blamed on the then-military establishment which was
distracted from its key role by the pursuit of personal gains. The situation
is entirely different now."
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