FEBRUARY 28, 1974

ROUND-UP 2

Following are the banner headlines of the three papers:

Al-Ahram:

FOUR MAJOR ISSUES TO BE DEALT WITH IN TALKS BETWEEN PRESIDENT EL SADAT AND KISSINGER TODAY (Banner).

1- Disengagement of Forces on Golan. 2- The Geneva Conference and an Over-all Settlement. 3- Egypt-USA Relations. 4- Nixon's Visit to the Area in Spring.

Kissinger to Return to Damascus after Second Visit to Tel Aviv Tomorrow.

il-Akhbar:

THREE ISSUES TO BE DISCUSSED BY EL SADAT AND KISSINGER TODAY (Red Banner).

1- Disengagement of Forces on Golan. 2- Coming Stages of Settling Middle East Crisis. 3- Egyptian-US Relations.

Kissinger Met for Seven Hours with President Al Assad and then Left for Israel - Gromyko Arrived in Damascus Suddenly.

White House Announces: Syria Handed Kissinger List of Names of 65 Israeli POW's.

El Sadat to Meet with Kissinger today at Rest House in Pyramids Area.

Al-Gomhuria:

KISSINGER'S TALKS IN CAIRO TO BEGIN TODAY (Red Banner).

U.S. Secretary of State Met Twice with President Al Assad to Discuss Disengagement of Forces on Golan and Then Flew to Tel Aviv and Will Arrive in Cairo Today.

Kissinger Declines to Comment on Outcome of Talks in Damascus While White House Announces U.S. Secretary of State Received List of Israeli POW's in Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State to Inform President El Sadat of Results of Talks in Damascus and Tel Aviv.

Al Ahram gives second-lead prominence to reports on the military rebellion in Ethiopia and the resignation of the Ethiopian Cabinet.

SF/GFH.

.../..

CAIRO PRESS REVIEW

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FEBRUARY 28, 1974

The two Arab envoys sent by the limited Arab Summit Conference held in Algeria conveyed to Washington last week the necessity of linking the disengagement of forces along the Egyptian and Syrian fronts to the steps to be taken to march forward towards comprehensive settlement by carrying out the Security Council Resolution No. 242 which stipulates total withdrawal and the safeguarding of the Palestinian Peoples' rights.

**Third:**

Bilateral relations between Egypt and the United States in the light of the changes which took place with regard to America's stand towards the Middle East problem.

An important statement is expected to be released concerning this issue before Secretary of State Dr. Kissinger ends his visit.

(Al-Akhbar published a report by Reuter which quoted well-informed diplomatic sources in Cairo as having said that Kissinger's talks with President El Sadat may lead to the resumption of diplomatic relations between Egypt and the U.S.)

**Fourth:**

The visit which U.S. President Richard Nixon is expected to make to the Middle East area in spring.

Al-Akhbar added that Kissinger's talks with President El Sadat will deal with the progress made in the disengagement of forces along the Egyptian front, and the possibilities of reopening the Suez Canal.

Sources in Damascus said that Kissinger will also discuss with President El Sadat the question of extending the period of the UNEF's presence in Sinai which is scheduled to expire on April 24.

Dr. Kissinger is scheduled to arrive in Cairo at 11 a.m. today by a special plane coming from Tel Aviv. He will leave Cairo tomorrow morning for Tel Aviv on his second visit during his present tour to complete his talks on the separation of forces along the Golan front.

Official American sources in Cairo refused to deny or confirm news about the possibility of Kissinger's return to Cairo.

GG/GFH.

.../..

CAIRO PRESS REVIEW

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FEBRUARY 28, 1974

The delegation accompanying Dr. Kissinger comprises 39 persons. They include Joseph Sisco, Robert McCloskey, Harold Saunders, Alfred Atherton and George Vest. The delegation also comprises secretaries and journalists.

Foreign Minister Ismail Fehmy will receive Dr. Kissinger on his arrival at Cairo airport and will participate in the talks which the Secretary of State will conduct in Cairo.

## Kissinger to visit Bonn on Sunday

A spokesman for the West German Foreign Ministry said yesterday that Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger will visit Bonn next Sunday and Monday while he is on his way back to America from the Middle East.

Secretary of State Dr. Kissinger will meet with Foreign Minister Walter Scheel and Chancellor Willy Brandt during this visit. Dr. Kissinger will leave for Brussels afterwards.

GG/GFH.

.../..

CAIRO PRESS REVIEW

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FEBRUARY 28, 1974

GROMYKO ARRIVES SUDDENLY IN DAMASCUS, HOLDS TALKS WITH ASSAD, WILL ARRIVE MARCH 1 IN CAIRO

Diplomatic sources in Moscow announced that Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko arrived, yesterday, in Damascus. From Damascus Gromyko will fly to Cairo tomorrow, to discuss prospects of peace in the Middle East with Egyptian officials. Gromyko may exchange views with Henry Kissinger the US Secretary of State.

News of Gromyko's trip came as a complete surprise to diplomatic circles in Moscow. The Soviet Foreign Minister was to leave Moscow on Friday March 1 on an official 5-day visit to Cairo.

ISRAEL AND NAMES OF P.O.W.'S ON SYRIAN FRONT

- The names of the prisoners are no problem. The problem is the names of the Cabinet Ministers we're unable to give to the Knesset.

CARTOON

By Salah Jaheen

From Al Ahram

AMH/EGF

.../..

CAIRO PRESS REVIEW

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FEBRUARY 28, 1974

United Press said that German officials in Bonn expressed their surprise at the sudden departure of Gromyko only a few moments after the arrival in Moscow of Egon Bahr, the German Minister of State, to conduct talks with the Soviet Foreign Minister.

The United Press quoting informed sources in London said that Gromyko would lend Kissinger a hand in his present efforts to disengage forces on the Syrian front and that the Soviets had promised during Gromyko's discussions in Washington lately, to support Kissingers efforts in Syria.

Al Ahram's correspondent in Moscow reported that Soviet informed sources said that Gromyko visit had been agreed upon following confidential contacts between Moscow and Damascus and after many meetings of the Politbureau of the Soviet Communist Party.

Before departing, Gromyko held a meeting with the American Ambassador in Moscow. A delegation of 15 Soviet experts accompanied Gromyko on his visit.

Immediately after arrival in Damascus the Soviet Foreign Minister met with Syrian President Hafez El Assad and the two discussed the situation in the Middle East.

Soviet Ambassador to Syria Nureddin Mohieddinov had delivered a message from Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev to President Assad on hour prior to Kissinger's arrival in Damascus.

Gromyko is expected in Cairo tomorrow at 2 p.m. on a 5-day official visit during which he will conduct discussions with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ismail Fahmy. The discussions will deal with the developments of current situation and the consolidation of Soviet-Egyptian relations. President Sadat will receive the Soviet Minister.

The name of the new Soviet Ambassador in Egypt may be announced during the visit. The new Ambassador will replace Vladimir Vinogradov who had been appointed Soviet permanent envoy to the UN European headquarter in Geneva.

Gromyko and Ismail Fahmy will fly to Aswan where they will conclude their talks.

ALL PAPERS
FT

AMH/EGF

CAIRO PRESS REVIEW

- 31 - FEBRUARY 28, 1974

KISSINGER'S MISSION

The Egyptian and Saudi Foreign Ministers' visit to Washington has given Kissinger everything he could expect to get from the Arab side to crown his Middle East tour with success on disengagement on the Syrian front.

Kissinger's mission requires forcing Israel to give up the line which Golda Leir has proclaimed: that the Golan heights are an integral part of Israel. Such a statement could not only lead the current talks to complete failure, but also impede the discussion of the substance of a settlement by delaying the resumption of the Geneva conference in the foreseeable future.

An American official has said that the U.S. government does not agree with the Israeli premier's statement.

That is wanted of Kissinger, however, is to translate the U.S. government's opposition into practical measures that would foil this Israeli provocation, ensure Syria's territorial sovereignty, and pave the way to the resumption of the Geneva conference through disengagement on the Golan front.

Al Ahram F.T.

ISRAEL AND KISSINGER'S TALKS

American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has ended his first round of talks in Damascus on disengagement on the Syrian front and has proceeded to Israel for talks on the same subject with the Israeli authorities.

ZS/HR

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CAIRO PRESS REVIEW

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FEBRUARY 28, 1974

It is likely that in Israel Kissinger will hear a lot of arguments and pretexts for stalling on the disengagement.

One of these arguments, for instance, is that Golda Meir's cabinet is a transition government lacking the strength to take decisions, specially in view of Meir's failure to form a new council of ministers. Israeli and western news media have been saying for days that the failure to form a new cabinet in Israel would create difficulties for Kissinger's mission.

Kissinger may also hear the Israeli authorities insist that Israel would not give up one inch of the Golan heights. Golda Meir has already said that the Golan heights are an integral part of Israel. This was such a flagrant expression of expansionist ambitions that even an American diplomat -- the U.S. representative in Damascus -- has declared that Washington differs with Israel in this respect.

Such arguments and pretexts would be fresh evidence that Israel is not serious about peaceful settlement. It is not reasonable that the solution of such a serious crisis as that of the Middle East, which involves world peace and the interests of many countries, should be tied up with Israel's internal affairs, its party and personal feuds, and its government's strength or weakness.

Israel's persistence in its zionist expansionist ambitions, as betrayed by Golda Meir's statement, can have no result but a new Middle East outbreak.

Al Akhbar F.T.

ZS/HR

Thursday, February 28, 1974

# Kissinger's Talks Reflect U.S. Commitment
## Towards Just Peace In The Middle East

(Gumburiya - Page 3)

(By Hoda Tawfiq)

Dr. Henry Kissinger's visit to Egypt begins today. He is scheduled to have talks with President Sadat on the latest developments concerning the disengagement of troops on the Syrian front as a pre-requisite for moving towards an overall settlement and full withdrawal.

Dr. Kissinger's shuttle visits upon President Nixon's directive reflect a momentous shift in the US position on the Middle East crisis, which centers on the US commitment towards a just peace in the area as stressed by President Sadat during his repeated meetings with the US Secretary of State, and in Washington during Foreign Minister Ismail Fahmy's meeting with President Nixon.

This week's discussions are dubbed by Kissinger himself as a landmark in US-Arab relations by stating "The USA seizes this opportune time in the Middle East to bring about peace to all nations of the area."

The recent Washington talks have underlined the following:

1. The US alignment with Israel was the main stumbling block to the restoration of peace in the Middle East. A rectification is being introduced in the US positions from complete alignment with Israel to an even-handed policy towards both the Arabs and Israel. This is the US strategy of its new position on the Middle East crisis.

FG

Thursday, February 28, 1974

2. In order to make progress towards peace, Dr. Kissinger is willing to exert further political efforts for the disengagement of troops on the Syrian front.

In this connection Foreign Minister Ismail Fahmy said to me, "Kissinger exerts his utmost efforts. His task is difficult but he is capable of its accomplishment... and he knows his way."

The Foreign Minister comments on his Washington talks by adding: "We are a prime and original party to the issue because both the Syrian and Egyptian fronts are unitary and integrated militarily and politically."

FG

* * * *

Under the headline "Gromyko and Kissinger", Mustafa Kamal said: The Arab people welcome the change in America's policy which drew closer to justice. But they would not let bygones be bygones as Dr. Kissinger put it until the last Israeli soldier withdraws from Sinai, the West bank including Jerusalem, Gaza, and the Golan Heights, and until the rights of the Palestinians turn into something tangible acceptable to the Palestinians.

And when Cairo welcomes Gromyko tomorrow, we would like to affirm what Sadat said more than once that our friendship with the Soviet Union is not phasic and would not end once circumstances change. It is a strategic

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Thursday, February 28, 1974

pillar in our policy.

The Soviet-Egyptian friendship is not dictated by mere gratitude for the role which the Soviet Union played materially, morally, politically, militarily and economically, but is dictated by future interests of the two countries, and in the interest of the independent structure of our economy and our progress.

We open our minds to the American initiative and would like to give it full chance to prove its good intentions, that it is moving in a direction different from its old anti-Arab line.

(Gumhuriya - P. 4)

* * * *

In his article titled "If Relations Are Resumed With America", Fomil Labib referred to Dr. Kissinger's recent statement made on the conclusion of Fahmy's visit to Washington on the relations between America and Egypt and said that this indicates that full diplomatic relations are about to be resumed between the two countries. Some got hysterical in attacking resumption of relation, and rejected this when such a step leomed on the horizon. But he who reads what Sadat said a year ago will reach the conclusion that this man does not want his country to turn against this country or that. He wants his country to open up to East, West, North and South. Subsequently we shall resume our relations with America.

The writer calls for the drawing up of a realistic and objective information policy towards America after all these years of estrangement especially after the whole world began to ask about the story of the

- 4 - Thursday, February 28, 1974

Arab-Israeli conflict after they felt the pinch of oil embargo.

He went on to say that the Arabs have a handful of friends at the
Senate who made honest statements during times of crises. They include
James Abourizk, William Armstrong, William Fulbright, Mark Hatfield and
James McClure.

There are also honest writers in America. Definitely we have
friends in America who are counted by hundreds or thousands but they
can do something if we regularly keep them informed of our cause.

(Musawar - P. 23)

Under the headline "Opening Up And The Private Sector", Mohsen
Muhammad said: Some people create artificial contradiction between the
policy of opening up economically and socialism forgetting by this that
the policy of economically opening up has become the common feature of
this age. They gix ignore several facts, which chiefly include the fact
that the two Communist countries namely Yugoslavia and Romania issued
laws to encourage foreign investments. They also ignore the trade
agreements between the US and the Soviet Union.

The writer calls for daring decisions to solve chronic and continuous
problems saying that the encouragement of the Private Sector can contribute
to the settlement of many problems. (Akhbar - P. 8)

* * * *