Sadat slain by fundamentalists
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Anwar Sadat,
whose peace with Israel changed the
course of Middle East history, was as
sassinated Tuesday by six Egyptian sol
diers who jumped from a jeep on military
parade and charged the reviewing stand
firing automatic weapons Army sources
said the attackers were Moslem fun
damentalists
The Egyptian president had been
under attack by Moslem fundamentalists
who claim he betrayed Islam and the
Arab world through his peace with Israel,
which broke the cycle of three decades
of Mideast wars Tuesday’s parade
marked the anniversary of what Egypt
calls a "glorious Arab victory” in the last
conflict of that cycle — the 1973 Arab war
against Israel
An official medical bulletin issued by
the Middle East News Agency said Sadat
arrived at Maadi Military Hospital in a
coma about 20 minutes after the attack
with "two holes in the left side of the
chest, a bullet in the neck, just above the
right collar bone, a wound above the
right knee and a huge gash at the back of
the thigh, with a complicated facture of
the thigh "
Moussa Sabry, editor of the Cairo daily
Al Akhbar, told The Associated Press
that Sadat was hit in the chest by a rifle
bullet and a grenade fragment and died
about two hours after he was wounded
"They tried to save him," Sabry said in a
telephone interview "They changed his
blood and tried to make his heart work,
but it was useless.”
The raiders also were said to have
killed seven other people and wounded
27, including three American servicemen
and two diplomats
The army sources said all six at
tackers, including one lieutenant, were
members of an artillery unit They said
two were killed and the others were
being interrogated
That report differed from an earlier
statement by Egypt's ambassador to
Washington, Ashraf Ghorbal He said
three assassins were killed and three
were captured
The Egyptian government has not
given offical word on the assassins'
identities, their ages, or their political and
religious affiliations
Vice President Hosni Mubarak de
clared a state of emergency and the
ruling National Democratic Party nomin
ated him to succeed Sadat
Sadat took over after the death of
Gamel Abdel Nasser in 1970 Within
three years he crushed one internal
revolt against him, expelled 15,000
Soviet advisers and started turning
Egypt's orientation from the Soviet Union
to the United States
Grief was expressed around the world
at the loss of a man Pres Reagan called
"a champion of peace.” But there was
rejoicing in some Arab capitals and by
Palestinians who felt Sadat sold them out
to the Israelis
In Beirut, Lebanon, callers purporting
to speak for three separate Egyptian
opposition groups claimed responibility
The death was considered likely to
bring a new period of turmoil to the
Mideast, and Israeli opponents of the
peace treaty were gathering support for
a last-ditch effort to block Israel's with
draw from the Sinai.
The 62-year-old Sadat had enemies at
home and throughout the Middle East
because of his peace treaty with Israel
and his recent crackdown on hundreds
of opposition figures suspected of
fomenting Christian-Moslem strife in
Egypt He shared the 1978 Nobel Peace
Prize with Israeli Prime Minister Mena
chem Begin after reaching the U S -
sponsored Camp David accords
Last month he ordered the arrest of
more than 1,500 people, including fun
damentalist Moslems and Coptic Chris
tian leaders, and ordered private mos
ques to accept government control
The attackers were said to have
shouted, "Glory to Egypt!" and yelled
"Agents and intruders!” at foreigners on
the reviewing stand watching the parade.
The attack occurred shortly after 1
p.m. (3 a m. PDT) during a low flyby by jet
fighters. Explosions also were heard,
indicating grenades were thrown in the
attack. Young men, dressed in olive drab
uniforms, jumped from a moving jeep
and charged the president, firing their
weapons
Mubarak told the nation in a TV ad
dress announcing the death of Sadat:
"We are accustomed to these wounds
and we believe in God's will and we will
continue in the name of the spirit and
soul of our leader and our constitution
that we will abide by all treaties and
commitments made."
He said constitutionally mandated
elections will be held within two months
Until then, the government will be head
ed by the speaker of parliament, Sufi Abu
Taleb There were no outward signs of
alarm in Cairo, other than deployment of
anti-riot police, which was considered a
normal precaution.
In Washington, Reagan said with the
death of Sadat "America has lost a close
friend, the world has lost a great states
man and mankind has lost a champion of
peace In a world filled with hatred, he
was a man of hope."
emerald
Vol 83. No 24
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Wednesday.October7.1981
Photo by Bob Bakei
The "monsoons" have started anew, so don't expect
to see much sun through the week
Staying dry is a major dilemma Some people wear
ponchos, while others carry umbrellas. Some — like the
woman pictured above — find themselves forced to use rather
unconventional devices to keep dry. You know the old saying,
"Any box in a storm
Campus right-wing wave
helps ‘rebels with a cause’
By MIKE RUST
Of ffx EmaraM
During the turmoil of the 1960s, Young
Americans for Freedom was considered to be the
leading conservative answer to Students for a
Democratic Society
SDS died more than a decade ago, but YAF
has grown to between 60,000 and 70,000
members nationwide
And now, YAF — self-proclaimed "rebels with
a cause" — once again are working to provide a
political alternative for University students
Leaders of the campus YAF chapter, which
held its first organizational meeting of the year
Monday, believe that the organization can provide
an important service for students on this campus
where, as vice-chairer Rick Skayhan puts it,
"many teachers see socialists as conservatives ”
"To use their term, this is the alternative This
is going to be the alternative to what these people
have been fed for 15 to 20 years."
Both Skayhan, a graduate student in CSPA,
and chairer Jerry Peyton, a senior business
major, believe that despite the University’s image
as a center of leftist activity, much support exists
among students for the philosophy YAF
espouses
"There's always a latent support out there,"
Skayhan says "It's just a question of bringing it
out ”
The presence of Ronald Reagan, a member
of YAF's national advisory board, in the White
House provides a "convenient support base" for
groups like YAF, he says
Peyton mentions national polls which last
year revealed a nationwide conservative trend
among students He also suggests that conser
vative students may not have the time to be as
visible on campus as their left-wing counterparts
“These are the people who are working to
pay taxes," says Peyton, a union millworker for 14
years "They don't have time to up and yell.”
At the organization's philosophical base is
"The Sharon Statement" — a declaration of
principles adopted 20 years ago at the home of
William F Buckley, Jr in Sharon, Conn Among
the many principles listed in the statement:
“ . Liberty is indivisible, and political
freedom cannot long exist without economic
freedom
". . . When government interferes with the
work of the market economy, it tends to reduce
the moral and physical strength of the nation; that
when it takes from one man to bestow on another,
it diminishes the incentive of the first, the integrity
of the second, and the moral autonomy of both
“. . . The forces of international Communism
are, at present, the greatest single threat to these
liberties ”
However, Peyton and Skayhan both point to a
wide variety of views within the organization on
issues such as the draft and abortion Throughout
its history YAF has opposed the draft and favored
an all-volunteer military, they say
Most students arrive at college not as liberal
or conservative, but as part of "the mainstream"
that tries to make independent decisions con
cerning political issues, Skayhan says Therefore,
YAF stresses education rather than confronta
tion
"Many students strive to be objective If all
your information comes from one side, that's
where the damage is,” he says
While both Peyton and Skayhan have worked
with Republican politics in the past, they insist
YAF is non-partisan Peyton cites Rep Peg John,
D-Cottage Grove, as an example of a Democrat
whose voting record concurs with YAF beliefs
YAF hopes to sponsor debates, speakers and
films to combat the "stacked deck" they believe
most college students face Although Skayhan
says that political apathy among students “is at
the highest level I’ve ever seen," he says he is
hopeful
"When pressure is applied to present the
alternative point of view,” says Skayhan, "all of a
sudden that lack of public interest seems to
dissipate "