Egypt (Governement) President Nasser -Internally regarded as the founder of modern Egypt - enjoyed immense prestige throughout the Arab world and beyond.

Egypt - Government

President Nasser enjoyed immense prestige throughout the Arab world and beyond. Internally, he was regarded as the founder of modern Egypt.

In December 1962 he established the Arab Socialist Union (ASU) as the country´s only recognized political organization. In May 1967 he secured the withdrawal of the UN Emergency Force from Egyptian territory.

Egypt reoccupied Sharm esh-Sheikh, on the Sinai Peninsula, and closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping; This provoked the 'Six-Day War' of June 1967, when Israel quickly defeated neighbouring Arab states, including Egypt.

The war left Israel in control of the Gaza Strip and a large area of Egyptian territory, including the whole of the Sinai Peninsula. The Suez Canal was blocked, and remained closed until June 1975.

President Nasser died suddenly in September 1970, and was succeeded by Col Anwar Sadat, hitherto the Vice-President. In September 1971 the UAR was renamed the Arab Republic of Egypt, and a new Constitution took effect.

The Federation of Arab Republics (Egypt, Libya and Syria) was founded in 1972, but proved to be ineffective.

In 1976 Egypt terminated its Treaty of Friendship with the USSR. Relations with the USA, however, became closer, as President Sadat came to rely increasingly on US aid.

In foreign affairs, a division in the Arab world between a "moderate" grouping (including Jordan, Iraq and the Gulf States), which viewed the participation of Egypt as indispensable to any diplomatic activities for solving the problems of the region, and a "radical" grouping, led by Syria, became increasingly evident.

The PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, visited President Mubarak for discussions in December 1983, signifying the end of an estrangement between Egypt and the PLO.

In 1984 Jordan resumed diplomatic relations with Egypt. Egypt proposed two formulas for a peaceful settlement of the Iran-Iraq War, but neither was adopted by Iran or Iraq.

President Mubarak, accompanied by King Hussein of Jordan, made an unexpected visit to Baghdad in March 1985, to demonstrate his support for the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussain, although there had been no formal diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iraq since 1979. Relations with Libya continued to deteriorate.

President Mubarak, King Hussein of Jordan and Yasser Arafat of the PLO continued their discussions in pursuit of a negotiated settlement of the Palestinian question during 1984-85.

Mubarak endorsed the agreement concluded by Arafat and King Hussein, establishing the principle of a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation to participate in a proposed Middle East peace conference.

The visit of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia to Cairo in March 1989 was a further indication of Egypt´s improved status in the Arab world. In May Egypt was readmitted to the Arab League, despite Libya´s opposition.

President Mubarak represented Egypt at an emergency summit conference of the League, convened to rally support for the diplomatic initiatives of Yasser Arafat, following the Palestinian declaration of independence.

Col Qaddafi of Libya attended the meeting and had separate discussions with President Mubarak. In June it was announced that Egypt was preparing to reopen its border with Libya, and in October Col Qaddafi visited Egypt for further discussions.

In April 1989, in response to increasing international diplomatic pressure, Israel announced details of a four-point peace initiative for a resolution of the Middle East conflict.

The most important component of the plan was a proposal to hold elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, the initiative was ambiguous with regard to several crucial aspects of the Middle East conflict.