Egypt and Saudi Arabia: Britain recommended that the Kingdom and the Gulf countries continue to support the Sadat regime economically to serve their strategic interests - British documents
On these days 48 years ago, Britain was deeply concerned about the fate of Mohamed Anwar Sadat's regime in Egypt, which was suffering from the worst economic crisis.
Despite the strong relations between Sadat and the British and the Western bet on him to open the way for a settlement leading to the acceptance of Israel in the region, Britain held the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, responsible for saving Egypt, according to British documents reveal.
At that time, Egypt was suffering from very difficult economic problems after the October 1973 war. It also suffered from what the British considered a "security problem" because of the "lack of weapons" that the Egyptian armed forces wanted after the war.
The documents, which I viewed under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that James Callaghan, then British foreign secretary, requested a comprehensive review of the situation in Egypt in 1975.
The review aimed to answer the following question: In light of Egypt's economic, social and security problems, what can Britain do for the survival of the Sadat regime?
The review aimed to answer the following question: In light of Egypt's economic, social and security problems, what can Britain do for the survival of the Sadat regime?
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