CAIRO - Late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's understanding of the US and its Middle East policies were always in tune with official undertakings throughout his career. Sadat's supposedly weird and inconsistent approach to the US has been revealed in the second edition of the book “By Anwar Sadat” published by the Egyptian Dar Atlas for Publishing and Distribution. Sadat the journalist was a fanatical anti-US opponent, the book claims. His articles in the 1950s harshly criticised US-led capitalism, ‘the alternative to European colonialism in the Third World'. During the Second World War, Sadat leaned towards Germany, hoping that Egypt would gain independence from Great Britain if Hitler won the war. When he assumed power in 1970 (after the death of his predecessor Gamal Abdel-Nasser) Sadat introduced himself as Washington's “good friend”. This dramatic shift in Sadat's opinion of US policies took a new turn when he won the 1973 war and declared his initiative for peace with Israel. The US-Egyptian relationship under the victorious president witnessed a watershed when Sadat announced his ‘open door' policy and threw the door wide open for US investments. Nevertheless, the book argues that Sadat's deep love for Egypt on the one hand and his peace treaty with Israel on the other ultimately cost him his life. Sadat was assassinated by Islamists during a military parade in 1981 The book “By Anwar Sadat” compiled by Prof. Khaled Azab and researcher Amr Shalabi also reminds Egyptian journalists that Sadat was their prolific colleague. He made his debut in journalism when contributing to Al-Maswar weekly magazine in 1948. The Free Army Officers Movement assigned Sadat to found Al-Gomhuria newspaper on December 7, 1953 as the mouthpiece of the Egyptian Revolution in the face of the main independent newspapers at that time: Al-Ahram and Al-Akhbar. He was also on the editorial staff of the Al-Tahrir (liberation) magazine in 1954. Drawing attention to Sadat's literary talents, the 2nd edition of “By Anwar Sadat” identifies him as a novelist who published a serialised novel in Ahl Al-fan (Entertainment Community). Parts of his memoirs appeared in both semi-official publication Al-Ahram and October magazine. The late President remembered people whom he met in Mayo, the mouthpiece of the ruling National Democratic Party, which he founded. Prof. Azab writes: “In his introduction to the book: “By Anwar Sadat” sheds light on several aspects of Sadat's life, unknown to the present generation of Egyptians.” Some chapters seem to be a strong rebuttal of cruel allegations, accusing the late President of having little general knowledge and a controversial assessment of domestic and foreign policies. Sadat was born on December 25, 1918 in Meit Abul-Kom, a village in the Delta city of Menoufia. His paternal grandmother's father was of Sudanese origin. Young Sadat memorised the entire Qur'an in his childhood. A big surprise in the book is that Sadat, who was accused of a controversial relationship with the Egyptian Orthodox Church, attended a Coptic primary school in a village near his alma mater.
