Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 16, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free september 1981 focus Sadat dragnet hauls in enemies crackdown used to arrest political critics by Don Schanche the los Angeles times Cairo Nawal Sadnawy is a Middle aged egyptian a woman and a she is Well known Here As the author of several nontechnical medical books that urge a More Liberal egyptian attitude to Ward female her writings have aroused controversy among other criticizing puritanical islamic notions of premarital but she has not been involved in any activities that would make her a natural target of presi Dent Anwar Sadat crackdown on Polit ical opponents and religious extreme yet Sadnawy is one of the More than people swept up in the dragnet that began two weeks ago when Sadat moved to end what he called the Chris Tian moslem strife that has been build ing Here for several it is the presence of her name and those of Many others More prominent on the purge list that has led Many thoughtful egyptians to question the scope of his crackdown and the degree to which it reflects personal spite on the part of the president and some of his there has been virtually no sym Pathy expressed Here for most of those the or so Hartline mos Lem fundamentalists who figured most prominently in recent extremists in mosques and churches were the alleged target agitation and communal clashes that have taken an estimated 80 lives this aside from the objections raised Over the banish ment of Pope Shenouda head of the coptic orthodox has there been much of an outcry from the egyptian Christian Community Over the arrests of about 150 including eight Bishops and 16 other priests who were said to have taken provocative stands against but most of the others who were arrested political Jour lawyers and academicians appeared to have had Little or nothing to do with the mixing of politics and religion to which Sadat two Well known International figures on Sadat purge list Pope Shenouda and author journalist Mohammed Hassanein Heikal Are generally believed to have been victims of personal vendettas with the sometimes impetuous the Pope lost his tem poral rights As patriarch of the coptic Church and was banished to a desert Heikal was jailed and faces political investigation and probable trial for articles and books that he has published aside from their religious or political the two prominent men have Long been on the presi dents personal enemies Sadat angrily blamed Shenouda for instigating embarrassing demonstrations by North american copts during his visits to Washington and new York in 1979 and although the Pope deplored the incidents and worked diligently this year to Calm the aroused coptic Community Here and Sadat remained unforgiving and seized the Opportunity of the religious crackdown to banish according to an acquaint Ance of the who was once the powerful editor of at has been information minister and acting foreign minis a Long time intimate of the presi Sadat personal spite May have put some opponents in jail he fell out with Sadat Over Sadat rejection of the soviet Union and embrace of the United states in Long banned from publishing or speaking in he has been a frequent target of recent Sadat blasts against egyptians accused of criticizing the Sadat regime although Heikaus articles had no Domestic Impact and represented no threat to the presidents per Sonal animosity appeared to have been enough to draw him into the most of the others on the arrest list were outright critics and political opponents whose common if there is was opposition to the peace treaty with Israel and to the normalization of relations that although Sadat in his speech a week ago and his press conference last week attempted to link them to the religious strife that was the ostensible reason for the he made an unconvincing despite the religious troubles and growing internal criticism of Sadat Domestic most political analysts Here saw no threat to his while less popular than he was after his courageous trip to Jerusalem in the majority of egyptians More the egyptian still Admire and support yet in order to justify linking Politi Cal and other figures with the religious extremists swept up in the Sadat Felt compelled to paint a disquiet ing picture of a country almost on the verge of a religious civil with politicians apparently plotting among themselves to exploit it and topple him from no one Here believes the situation was that and Many wonder whether the president realized he was paint ing such a picture when he did his diatribes against some members of the foreign press last week certainly did nothing to dispel the image of a Leader who is still not quite certain what he has wrought or whether he has bitten off More than he can Comfort ably France goes its own Way by Michael Field the daily Telegraph Paris presi Dent Francois Mitterrand is showing himself to be As Independent minded As Charles de recently his government has taken positions differing appreciably from those of Frances major allies on the questions of South african intervention in the standing of the guerrillas in Al and that of the Palestine liberation organi the French positions Are also contrary to the Hope that the european economic Community will adopt a joint foreign but France is it has bigger things of its own at stake Trade influence and a sem Blance of the positions Are As follows d Angola at the United nations France condemned South african military intervention Jacques French represent spoke of the unprovoked and unjustified inva Sion of Angola by South he also criticized the refusal by the Pretoria govern ment on fallacious pretexts to accept implementation of the in plan for a namibian q Al Salvador a Franco mexican declaration has re cognized the Cuba backed leftist guerrillas As being a representative this does not seem to have provoked much anger in Wash but has brought congratulations from cuban president Fidel d Plo Claude foreign has talked to Plo chief Yasser Arafat in previously in Amman he had downgraded the Camp David agreements and insisted on the need for a settlement involving the its this when of reduce their suits you wont find better value fora limited time take the natural softness of Fine Al Wool and Wool blend Fabrica choose from Plain flannels or a hop sack weave As Well As linear have it styled by leading Canadian makers and the a Superb of vested sizes 36 to 46 shorts and tails of also offers selected stores for a limited off their Topo the Bartley Al Wool tailored expressly for Jack Fraser by for visa Kildonan City shopping uni City fashion vital la Prairie i i ;