CAIRO PRESS REVIEW

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NOVEMBER 6, 1973

Continuous Meetings to Prepare Plan For Reconstruction
of Canal Cities and to Outline Action by Ministry of
Reconstruction

Minister of Reconstruction Engineer Osman Ahmed Osman undertook contacts and concentrated studies to set the outlines for the Ministry's plan of action which, he said, will be announced soon.

The Minister of Reconstruction studied the organizational scheme of the Ministry and its general budget at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Dr. Abdel Aziz Hegazy. Osman Ahmed Osman also studied coordination of action between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning with the Minister of State for Planning Ismail Sabry Abadallah, as well as making use of research papers prepared at the National Institute for Planning on reconstruction of the Sinai and Suez Canal Areas.

During the meeting by the Minister of Reconstruction with the Minister of State for Planning, French, British and Soviet experience in this field, a survey on losses incurred by the Suez Canal Area during the war, a report on the population in the governorates affected by the war were reviewed.

A number of other meetings were held by the Minister for Reconstruction with ministers and top-level officials to study possible measures to contact the inhabitants of the areas affected by the wars, and canvass their views on reconstruction.

Al-Gomhouria, p. 4.

Al-Akhbar, p. 4.

SAF/GFH.

CAIRO PRESS REVIEW

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NOVEMBER 6, 1973

EDITORIALS :

EDITORIALS WRAP-UP

U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's visit to Cairo which begins today will be a test of his ability to defuse, swiftly and decisively, the explosive Middle East situation, Cairo press editorials said this morning.

The worldwide reputation of Kissinger's diplomacy, said "Al Ahram", may hinge on his ability to take such swift, decisive action during his Cairo talks.

For one thing, added the paper, the cease-fire has reached a critical point. For another, all the Arab states have shown that they are serious about using oil, in an ascending way, as a weapon in the fight.

"Kissinger's diplomacy is in the balance", said the paper's editorial headline.

Dealing also with Kissinger's visit, "Al Gomhouria" said:

"Kissinger comes at a time when the Middle East map and the Arab-Israeli conflict have undergone and are still undergoing profound and widescale changes... The test before American policy today is its ability to absorb the new facts and to come out with a new strategy."

"Al Akhbar" said that Israel is responsible for the steadily mounting tension on the Egyptian front which has reached the point of explosion.

"Things cannot continue the way Israel wants", said the paper. "The Israeli government and military establishment will have to bear the responsibility for the consequences".

The full texts of the editorials follow.

ZS/MF

["CAIRO PRESS REVIEW", "- 33 -", "NOVEMBER 6, 1973", "KISSINGER AND THE NEW OCTOBER WAR FACTS", "Cairo receives today Dr. Henry Kissinger, U.S. Secretary of State, at the beginning of his Middle East tour. The chief aim of the visit is to discuss ways to implement Security Council resolution 338 on the ceasefire and resolution 242 which calls for Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab territories occupied in 1967 and restoration of the rights of the Palestinian people.", "Kissinger comes at a time when the Middle East man and the Arab-Israeli conflict have undergone and are still undergoing profound and widescale changes. These have introduced entirely new elements to the situation, which are well known to the professor of political sciences who has become the U.S. Secretary of State. His chief credit is his success in absorbing the broad changes created by the conditions of our times and the relations between the powers at work, and his utilization of these changes in an attempt to build up American relations more in harmony with the world.", "-- The ceasefire which came into effect in August 1970 was the result of an American initiative lasted until October 6, 1973, the Israelis were sitting easy behind their defence lines, building settlements and dreaming of new lines striking deeper into Arab land.", "-- Israel was preparing for comfortable elections whose knights were those who had won the cheap victory of 1967. The main platform was the occupied Arab territories on which the Israelis, both hawks and doves, did not differ on the plan to retain them or to bargain on some of them.", "-- Israel acted as a thug in the area, meeting no deterrent. Its fist struck everywhere. It depended on American arms, the American veto, and American funds.", "Israel was very happy. It told the United States that it alone, not the Arabs, made up the Middle East, that American interests in the area were safe in its custody, that Arab threats of fighting or cutting off oil exports were only political blackmail, and that Israel was able to crush with one blow any attempt to change the status quo.", "-/-'}, "ZS/MF"]

CAIRO PRESS REVIEW

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NOVEMBER 6, 1973

Now, the situation has changed. Many new elements have come in. The frontlines have changed; the Egyptian armed forces have crossed the Suez Canal, smashed the Bar-Lev-Line, and gone deep into Sinai. The Israelis have discovered that their American weapons are not beyond destruction, and that Israeli soldiers are not immune to death or capture.

All the more, the Israelis have found out that it is not easy for them to impose their will by force, while their aggressive nature does not enable them to give up their ambitions easily. This is what is causing profound reaction today inside the Israeli leadership.

Many things have changed, and the sequence of events is still drawing new lines in the map of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The test before American policy today is its ability to absorb the new facts and to come out with a new strategy. The Middle East is no longer, and has never been, made up of Israel. The Israeli army is no sure guarantee of American interests, which cannot avert a blow for long.

(Al Gomhouria)

F. T.

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ISRAELI RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TENSION

It is now clear that Israel is responsible for the steadily mounting tension on the Egyptian front.

Two weeks after the Security Council's ceasefire order, Israel still refuses to pull back to the October 22 battle lines.

Israel is trying to justify this attitude with various slim pretexts that have no connection with the provisions of the Security Council resolution. It is trying to hold on to its positions beyond the October 22 lines so as to use them as a card in bargaining.

At the same time, Israel is continuing to breach the ceasefire and commit inhuman crimes against the villagers in the area of its infiltration on the west bank of the Suez Canal.

-/-.

ZS/MF

CAIRO PRESS REVIEW

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NOVEMBER 6, 1973

Official Israeli statements show that the Israeli government wants to keep things as they are. It does not want to implement the Security Council ceasefire order or to move on to resolution 242 which calls for Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories.

As a result of this Israeli attitude, tension has mounted and the situation has turned explosive. Things cannot continue the way Israel wants. The Israeli government and military establishment will have to bear the responsibility for the consequences.

(Al Akhbar)

F. T.

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C O L U M N :

"People's Talk"

(By: Aly Hamdy El Gammal)

Looking at the Arab situation today, what do we find? The Arab action that began on October 6 is moving ahead in full strength.

Reciprocal visits by the Arab heads of state. The Arab oil Ministers meeting again in Kuwait to assess how the measures adopted in their first meeting are working out and what new steps should be taken. African foreign Ministers called to a conference by Algerian President Boumedienne to consider new measures following the break-off of diplomatic relations with Israel.

All this proves that the Arabs are resolved to go ahead by all means to achieve their aims, whether these means are military, political or economic.

The United States, and Israel, have been taken by surprise. The concerted Arab action has exceeded all their expectations. What is certain is that efforts will be made to stem this great tide. We must be ready to check these efforts. Current Arab action has proved there is a fund of good intentions.

(Al Ahram)

F. T.

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ZS/MF