Egyptian Provocation

On the western border of Egypt sits the five-year-old desert nation of Libya, whose chief export is dried esparto grass, and whose income comes largely from giant British and U.S. air bases. Its people are so poorly educated that Egypt eagerly supplies it with teachers, professional men, even government officials.

Last week Libya's aged King Idris showed himself surprisingly independent of his ambitious neighbor Nasser. Opening the Libyan Parliament, he stressed the "strongest resentment at the aggression of which our sister state, Egypt, has been a victim," and asked for a "review" of Libya's treaty with Britain. But this done, Libya itself bravely stood up to Egypt. The Colonel. Chief provocation was one Colonel Ishmail Sadek, who had turned up in Libya as Egypt's military attache. He proclaimed something called the "Front for the Struggle of the Libyan People," with the announced objective of organizing "the people's resistance to the oppressive imperialists." The colonel made speeches, organized demonstrations, and ignored police warnings. When the British attacked Egypt, the colonel redoubled his efforts. Despite the fact that the Libyan government declared its wholehearted support of Egypt, and required British forces to remain at their bases, Colonel Sadek proclaimed that it was the "servant of imperialism." In the first few days after the assault, his "Front" managed to blow up one section of the pipeline carrying oil from Tripoli's port to Wheelus Field, had bombs thrown at Barclays Bank and a small Jewish store. The Prime Minister himself protested to the Egyptian embassy. The colonel responded by smuggling 28 cases of automatic arms into the embassy, and (said a Libyan government communique later) "incited some persons to throw bombs inside Tripoli."

This was too much. The Libyan government asked him to leave. The irrepressible colonel refused to. When Libyan police surrounded the Egyptian embassy, the colonel took up position on the roof with a machine gun, while leaflets poured out into the streets of Tripoli exhorting the citizens to protest. For three days the siege went on, with the colonel appearing at intervals on the roof to flourish his machine gun and peer hopefully down the street for rioting demonstrators to answer his call. None came, and Colonel Sadek disconsolately agreed to depart.

Closing School. The colonel might have been exceeding his instructions. But the Libyans were taking no chances. Last week the government fired its Egyptian attorney general, expelled seven of Libya's 600 Egyptian teachers, and, just to be sure the remainder had no chance to foment further trouble, closed all schools until further notice.

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