Action by U.S. ‘Surprises and Saddens’ Egypt

Egypt said Friday that it was “surprised and profoundly saddened” by the U.S. interception of an EgyptAir jetliner carrying the four Palestinian hijackers of an Italian cruise liner.

A statement released by the Foreign Ministry was surprisingly mild in its criticism of the U.S. action, however, suggesting to Western analysts here that the Egyptians were interested in minimizing the damage to bilateral relations in the wake of the hijack drama.

In condemning both the interception of the EgyptAir Boeing 737 by U.S. fighter jets and the Palestinian hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro, the ministry declared, “The Arab Republic of Egypt . . . reaffirms its oft-stated position that these acts will not serve the peace process.”

“This is in line with the basic position we have always stated, namely that terror leads to more terror and violence breeds more violence,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, authorities in Port Said, at the northern end of the Suez Canal, refused to let the Achille Lauro to sail to its next port of call in Ashdod, Israel. It has been docked at Port Said since the hijackers surrendered Wednesday.

It was unclear whether the refusal reflected official pique with Italy, which has the four hijackers in custody, or merely is designed to show that the Egyptians intended to fully investigate the killing of retired New York businessman Leon Klinghoffer during the 51-hour hijacking.

The official explanation was that Egypt needs to keep the ship in port until the investigation is complete. Police officials and investigators swarmed over the ship Friday.

Americans Go Home

Seventeen Americans who were among the 511 hostages held by the gunmen left for home Friday aboard a U.S. military transport plane. In Washington, the State Department said that the plane would refuel at the U.S. Rhein-Main Air Base near Wiesbaden, West Germany, and land at Newark, N.J. today.

Klinghoffer’s widow, Marilyn, 58, was thought to be among those returning to the United States.

There were hints in the Foreign Ministry statement that Egypt felt betrayed by the U.S. action. It noted that Egypt had planned to turn the hijackers over to the Palestine Liberation Organization for trial and pointed out that PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat had promised to investigate and prosecute them for the hijacking and Klinghoffer’s murder. It said that President Reagan on Thursday had endorsed prosecution by the PLO, apparently referring to a statement he made to reporters in Chicago from which he backed away later in the day.

Despite the criticism of the United States, the government-run newspaper Al Ahram said Friday that the incident should not strain relations between the countries.

A commentary by the newspaper’s chief editor, Ibrahim Nafeh, a confidant of President Hosni Mubarak, said: “We are keen on the continuation of our ties with the United States, which we once described as a special relationship. . . . Our relations with the United States are basic.”

‘Victory of Warplanes’

He wrote, however, that the United States “should not be overjoyed by this victory of its warplanes over a civilian aircraft.”

“It should not turn (Washington’s) head and (the United States should) fully understand the seriousness of our repeated warnings against terror and counterterror, and the possibility that this will lead to a blowup in an area where the United States and its friends have many interests,” Nafeh said.

Official U.S. sources here told the Associated Press that the U.S. Embassy remains concerned about possible reprisals against American citizens and, for that reason, had speeded the departure of the Achille Lauro’s American passengers from Egypt.

The Egyptian authorities revealed only a glimmer of what must have been profound humiliation at the U.S. decision to intercept the Egyptian plane. At the very least, the dramatic mission suggested that President Hosni Mubarak had openly and repeatedly lied when he said that the hijackers had left Egypt on Wednesday night.

The EgyptAir 737 did not take off from an air strip near Cairo until late Thursday and was intercepted by the U.S. military aircraft early Friday morning.

Tunisia’s Refusal

Even though the flight was delayed when Tunisia, under U.S. pressure, refused to let the Egyptian plane land, it was clear that the hijackers had not left Egypt until long after Mubarak had said they had departed.

Al Ahram said Friday that Mubarak’s orders for the plane to depart with the hijackers were not carried out because of administrative delays and that the president was unaware of it.

State-run Egyptian television, which virtually never reports news critical of Mubarak, quoted at length Friday from the statement of White House spokesman Larry Speakes that the United States “strongly disagreed” with Egypt’s handling of the hijackers.

Very much on the defensive, the Foreign Ministry statement said that Egypt had negotiated with the terrorists “to save the lives” of the passengers and crew members aboard the hijacked ship, “at the insistence of some countries that had nationals on board.”

Egypt will receive $2.5 billion in assistance from Washington this year.