Word: canallers
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...best possibility for peace at the moment seems to lie in an interim settlement that would involve reopening the Suez Canal. The chances of success, however, are particularly slim if the Russians decide to use their friendship treaty to provide additional arms to Egypt. In what was meant as a reciprocal warning to Moscow, President Nixon at his press conference last week said that such shipments "can only mean a new arms race and could greatly jeopardize the chances for peace...
First, U.S. Secretary of State William Rogers, exploring the possibility of reopening the Suez Canal as part of an interim settlement between Egypt and Israel, was received with great cordiality by President Anwar Sadat. Next, Sadat established himself as Gamal Abdel Nasser's true heir by nipping a plot against him and staging a swift, authoritative series of arrests and dismissals that reached deep into the government and army...
...cease-fire that had remained in force in the Middle East since last August. A successful Washington peace plan on top of that would be a severe blow to the Soviet image as the decisive power in the Middle East, anxious though the Russians are to have the Suez Canal reopened...
...sides are still diplomatic leagues apart. Israel's position is that it might accept some official Egyptian presence short of military forces on the east bank of the canal-perhaps a small police contingent. It would insist on at least a skeleton staff to maintain the Bar-Lev Line of canal fortifications, an idea that Cairo would be unlikely to accept. Israel looks with little favor, however, on Rogers' proposal for an international peace-keeping force in the area...
Presumably there is room for bargaining over the distance the Israelis would be willing to pull back. Government officials in Jerusalem have hinted at eight to ten miles from the canal. Egypt has demanded that Israeli forces go farther-a full 115 miles, but that may well be merely an opening bid. Probably the stickiest issue is Sadat's insistence that any interim agreement on the canal be linked to a commitment by Israel to withdraw eventually from all occupied territories. Jerusalem is equally determined that any partial withdrawal be entirely separate from negotiations for an overall peace agreement...