Middle East: The Supersalesman

I SUPPOSE we should have kept in mind," fumed a U.S. State Department official, "that the Cross of Lorraine is also a double-cross." That undiplomatic reaction was evoked by the news that France had agreed to sell not 15, not 50, but 100 warplanes and trainers to the revolutionary regime of Libya for $147 million, the biggest one-shot aircraft deal in French history. Initially, Paris had claimed that only 15 planes were involved. Later the French said that the figure was really 50. When French Defense Minister Michel Debre finally upped the figure to 100, feelings between Paris and Washington ran high. "We were not consulted about this transaction," said the State Department (though it was informed of it afterward). Almost immediately, the Quai d'Orsay shot back: "France is under no obligation to supply information to anyone."

Finding Flyers. Libya's instant air force will be financed out of the country's $1 billion-a-year oil royalties, with the planes to be delivered between 1971 and 1974. The deal includes 50 Mirage 5s similar to French-built jets now being flown by Israelis; 30 sophisticated Mirage III-Es, equipped with a Doppler radar system for low-level approaches and poor-visibility aiming; and 20 Mirage IIIs which operate as trainers and reconnaissance planes.

The nationalist government that ousted King Idris last year may have difficulty finding people to fly the planes. Libya's most seasoned pilot has only 57 hours in jets; he will need at least three years of training to handle one of the hot Mirage III-Es. That raises the question: Will Egyptians pilot the planes until Libyan flyers are ready? Some Middle East experts think so, though Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser has scarcely enough qualified men to pilot his own Soviet-supplied MIGs and Sukhois. Nevertheless, Egypt and Libya are already military allies, and Egyptians sat in on the technical discussions in France because they knew more about jet performance than the Libyans. Moreover, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who led the coup against Idris and two weeks ago declared himself Prime Minister, has readily volunteered to help in the fight against Israel. According to a U.S. businessman in Libya: "He is quite frank about the fact that his mission in life is to kick hell out of Israel and that any war materiel supplied him will be used to that end."

Restoring Influence. The Mirage deal gives France a number of political as well as commercial advantages. President Georges Pompidou has been trying to restore French influence in North Africa; his program will be helped along as Libyan pilots and crewmen arrive in France for training. France is sending aircraft technicians to Libya. They will maintain Mirages and may operate Wheelus Air Force Base near Tripoli, which the U.S. is evacuating. As part of the arrangement, Libya has agreed to stop assisting the Moslem rebels of Chad, who have been opposing the French-supported Black African government in the former French colony.

For France, which depends on armament sales for 17% of its industrial exports, the Mirage sale is a healthy lift. It could also mean a sympathetic hearing for French oil companies any time Libya reopens its concessions to new bids. Defending the deal, Debre said: "Those people who scream are hypocrites. The Anglo-Saxons are afraid we will take their markets." Debre was referring to the fact that the U.S. had sold Idris ten F-5 Freedom Fighters and was hoping to sell ten more, while Britain was hoping to sell Centurion tanks. The French may sew up the tank market too; one report has it that Libya is to buy 200 French AMX-30s.

The plane sale has brought criticism from many Frenchmen. Wrote Le Monde in a front-page editorial: "Either the government is only seeking to feed its arms industry, and in that case it has no reason to maintain its total embargo against Israel. Or it is bent on supporting the Arabs and must explain to the country why." To head off such criticism, Debre revealed that the embargo is not really total. Though Israel has been denied 50 Mirages, Debre explained that the Israelis are at least getting spare parts for the French fighters that they already own.

Qualitative Difference. The U.S. made no secret of its displeasure. Washington maintains that there is a qualitative difference between ten additional F-5s in the hands of King Idris, who kept aloof from the Arab-Israeli conflict, and 100 French planes in the hands of ardently pan-Arab, pro-Nasser Prime Minister Gaddafi. When Pompidou arrives for his first presidential visit to Washington at the end of February, he is likely to hear much the same complaint from President Nixon.

Of course, Washington would rather see French planes in North Africa than Russian planes. But 100 aircraft are enough to unsettle the arms balance in the Middle East and hamper U.S. attempts at evenhandedness. To maintain the balance, the U.S. may well feel compelled to approve the sale to Israel of 25 more Phantom jets, which had been requested but up to now withheld.

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