University Daily Kansan, October 7, 1981
Death in Cairo
Page 3
Leaders react
'President Sadat was a courageous man whose vision and wisdom brought nations and people together.'
Ronald Reagan
'Surely no man has risked more than he in the quest for peace.'
—Howard Baker
Jimmy Carter
'the greatest world leader I have ever known ' Humy Carter
'Today, I lost not only a partner to the peace process but also a friend.'
—Menachem Begin
Sadat assassination shocks Washington
By United Press International
WASHINGTON—The assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadar yesterday sent shock waves through Washington and created a ripple of American interests in the volatile Middle East.
President Reagan, appearing at the North Portico of the White House, called Sadat's killing "infamy, cowardly infamy that fills us with horror."
THE PRESIDENT, told of the shooting at 6:25 a.m. CDT by Secretary of State Alex Haig, said the United States stood ready to "assist in any way we can."
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, who lost two brothers to political assassins, issued a statement on the death of 'my friend, Anwar Sadat.'
"How can we accept that this has happened for the third time this year—and that the time, the way and the event—is not possible?"
"The greatest tribute that we can pay to him now is to finish his work," he said.
"He was a unique leader who truly turned the tide, turning himself on his considerable talent and efforts."
Thomas O'Neil, D-Mass, the Speaker of the House of Commons, her death was a loss to Egypt and to the world.
IN THE SENATE, Republican leader Howard Baker called for a week-long moratorium in the AWACS debate "until we have had a chance to digest the enormity of this event."
Baker called Sadat 'one of the grat leaders of our time. . . surely no man has risen more than him.'
One opponent of Reagan's plan to sell the AWACS arms package to Saudi Arabia, said Sadat's death pushed the question of Middle East Policy "back to square one."
assassination had changed his mind and he now supported the $8.5 billion AWACS seal.
Sen. Larry Pressler, R-S.D., said Sadat's death would lessen the deal's chances for approval because the assassination would "reinforce" the government with the instability of certain Arab governments.
But a conservative senator said the
The Senate is the main battleground for the controversy, which has pivoted around Israeli opposition to the sale and question about whether Israel should buy arms that would be safe in the hands of the Saudi monarchy.
BUT SEN, CHARLES PERCY, R-III., said the events in Egypt showed the U.S. should have close ties to moderate Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
"I think it indicates the necessity of this country to be able to work with them and to find a
Both houses of Congress must reject the proposal in order to shock the sale. The AWACS (American Waterways Co.) will not
Both the House and the Senate unanimously anroved resolutions commemorating Sadat.
Percy, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said yesterday that Sadat's attackers were working with a fundamentalist Islamic group.
He made his statement after a 75-minute meeting with Haig.
"So far as I know . . . it was a group of Egyptian officers and enlisted personnel, perhaps working with, and in sympathy with, the fundamentalist Islamic movement," he said. "But what outside interference there was, we can only guess at."
AFTER THE MEETING, Haig pledged support to a Iraqi partner Egypt during what could be a tragic moment.
promise of Anwar Sadat's historic achievements."
"During this difficult transition period, the United States will stand firmly by Egypt," he said.
In response to the events in Egypt, the Pentagon placed elements of the U.S. rapid deployment force and the 6th Fleet at increased readiness in the Mediterranean.
About 4,000 marines were boarded 10 ships that yesterday headed for waters near the Egyptian-occupied Sinai.
The heightened readiness of the deployment force signalized U.S. willingness to intervene militarily if a crisis that affected U.S. interests erupted in the Middle East.
THE PENTAGON ordered the movement, but
the White House and State Department appro-
vate [18] its use.
Pentagon officials scoffed at reports that the readiness order was designed to warn Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy against interfering in Egypt during the transition period that will end with Egypt's presidential elections in two months.
Reaction around world includes joy, sorrow
By United Press International
President Reagan yesterday called assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat a "humanitarian unaffraid to make peace" and Israel mourned his loss, but Libyan danced in the streets, Palestinians fired rifles in joy and were in the death of a "mercenary pawn of Zionism."
Pope John Paul II, himself the target of a gunman in May, condemned the assassination of Sadat on the eighth anniversary of the Yorn Kippur War as a "treacherous act of violence." He praised the Egyptian leader as "a man of peace" with a "lofty vision of reconciliation."
"As of today, Oct. 6, we challenge whoever takes the path of Satat and who prays under the Israeli flag in Jerusalem," the agency Jana quoted Khadafa as saving.
SMILING, LIBYAN leader Moammar Khadify, Sadat's bitter foe, said that the assassination should end tensions between Libya and Egypt but also warned that future Egyptian leaders would be killed if they followed Sadat's policies.
At the United Nations, U.N. Secretary
Kurt Waldheim called the assassination
'distant'.
In Libya, which fought a war against Sadat, Tripoli Radio reported Libyan dancers in the streets and said the assassination was "great." They called the Arab and Egyptian people against treachery.
"Death will be the end of whoever attempts treason after today," Khadja said.
"Egypt's ruler has fallen in a pool of his blood as a result of a decisive revolutionary blow when anti-tank units struck the rostrum where Sadat held his position and the people, "the Lubavian news agency Jana said.
THE OTHER TWO Camp David accord peacemakers, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and former President Jimmy Carter, mourned the maverick Egyptian who electrified the world with his daring journey to Jerusalem in 1977. Begin said he had lost a friend and family member, but was the Camp David catalyst, called Sadat who symbolizes a commitment to peace. He also said Sadat was "the greatest world leader I have ever known."
Sadat
From nage one
French-made Mirage jetfighters were performing overhead, release streams of smoke in Egypt's colors—red, black and white, and just as a bullet dropping a pulling field artillery past the reviewing stand.
INITIAL REPORTS said the attackers either were killed or captured. One soldier wearing the
A truck suddenly stopped and five soldiers jumped out, and ran toward the grandstand where Sadat was sitting. One of the assailants threw a hand grenade that hit the grandstand's fence and exploded. Another jumped over the fence, firing a Soviet-made AK47 rifle. The three others also fired rifles and one hurled a second grenade.
purple beret of an artillery officer was dragged into a jeep and driven away.
Later, troops surrounded the national palace, headquarters of the State Radio and several embassies, but officials said there were no injuries. But what a assassination was part of a coup attempt
Mobarak, an Air Force commander during the 1972 Middle East War, vowed to stick with Musk.
"I declare that we shall honor all international charters, treaties and commitments which Egypt has contracted," Mobarak said. "Our hands will not cease to push the wheel of peace, in pursuance of the mission of the departed leader."
Emerging from his residence after listening to the drama in Cairo by radio, a skaken Began said "I was taken aback when I met him."
"During our many meetings, personal friendship was established between us," Begin said. "Today, I lost not only a partner to the process process but also a friend. ... we hope that you will find this connection of its enemies, will continue as we know President Sadat would wish with all his heart."
IN WASHINGTON, President Reagan, whom sajed visited this fall, was near tears, as was his wife.
"President Sadat was a courageous man whose vision and wisdom brought nations and people together," Reagan said. "In a world filled with hatred, he was a man of hope.
"In a world trapped in the animosities of the past, he was a man of foresight—a man who sought to improve a war tormented by malice and petitness. As a soldier he was unafraid to make peace. His courage and skill resaped a harvest of life for his nation and for the world."
In Beirut, militant Palestinian gunmen fired victorious volleys in the air over the death of the Egyptian, who they said had deserted their cause in favor of a bilateral treaty with Israel.
IN IRAN, Tehran Radio said Sadat, who offered the former Shah refuge and gave him a royal funeral, was killed in a "climax of the war" over the closure of the Zionist nature of American laxes."
Tehran Radio, in a broadcast monitored in Ankara, Turkey, said Sadat was "a treacherous and mercenary pawn of Zionism and imperialism."
In Tunis, Tunisia, the Arab League, which expelled Sadat for making peace with Israel, said it hoped Egypt would now return "to the Arab family."
The Soviet Union, against whom Satad turned from ally into bitter adversary, said public dissatisfaction with Satad's dealings with Israel and the United States. They accredited the brief report to "audience."
ISRAELI POLITICIANS were concerned over the effect of the death on the precarious path to Middle East peace. Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said it was hard to believe that the Israeli government would make this process continue at least in the format established by the Camo David accords.*
"The Reagan policy that shifted the focus of attention from Egypt to Saudi Arabia created a new situation . . . the Carter administration contributed to the downfall of the Shah's regime in Iran, the Reagan administration undermined national in Egypt and in the Arab world," Rabin said.
The official Chinese news agency in Peking reported the assassination in a brief report with
In the Western world, the news was met with universal shock and disbelief.
"The extent of such a tragedy is beyond description," said Austria's Chancellor Bruno Kreisey. "There is no doubt that the critical Middle East will get worse after this tragedy."
West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt called Saad a "brave man" and said his courage in seeking peace "lifted him high above many of his contemporaries."
French President Francis Mitterrand said, "the world loses with him one of its best."