Egypt Vows Response to All Terrorism

In a stern warning to both Iraq and neighboring Sudan, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Tuesday that any attempt to mount a terrorist attack in Egypt would be met with massive retaliation “within 24 hours.”

Egypt is part of the international coalition against Iraq in the Gulf War. Militant Islamic groups in Sudan have called for an attack on Egypt’s Aswan High Dam, which is 100 miles north of the Sudanese border. Queried by Egyptian reporters, Mubarak said that if Iraq tried to launch an attack against the dam or any other Egyptian target from Sudan, both the Iraqis and the Sudanese “would pay a dear price. . . . “

Mubarak said it would be reckless for the Iraqis to attack anything in Egypt because “I would teach them a lesson. . . . I would retaliate within 24 hours at most.”