sion sion -SOlidanty Con%,rente '11. by. Hønier A. Ja&.- INTRODUCTION The Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Conference, held in Cairo, Egypt, beginning December 26, 1957, does not rate the worldwide attention rightfully given to the Asian-African Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia, beginning April 18, 1955. Yet symbolically Cairo is important as a marriage of convenience between President Nasser of Egypt and Asian communism. It could also be the beginning of communist penetration south of the Sahara. The road from Bandung to Cairo was built in 32 months. Cairo, if not Bandung, could conceivably be on Lenin's road from Moscow to Paris, London and Washington. In this light, the origins of the Cairo Conference ought carefully to be studied as well as reports of what actually occurred during the Conference. Finally, a contemplation of the political significance of Cairo is fascinating, if frightening to some. "LONG LIVE AFRO-ASIAN SOLIDARITY" The Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Conference opened on December 26th with a plenary session in the auditorium of the University of Cairo. As delegates arrived, the streets were lined with school children marching in uniform and displaying banners, olive branches, cardboard peace doves, and portraits of President Nasser. Inside the auditorium was a huge banner with the conference insignia showing a dark and a light hand clasped around a torch, with a backdrop of the continents of Africa, Asia, and apparently the European portion of the U.S.S.R. Thirty-five flags were also displayed, although some delegations represented colonies which do not yet have their own flags. Some 500 delegates and a number of observers sat on the main floor. Almost 100 journalists were also present, as were numbers of Egyptian and other African students. The latter waved banners and shouted these slogans: Long Live Afro- Asian Solidarity, Down with Imperialism, We Want Peace, and Down with the Eisenhower Doctrine. The delegates themselves had the choice of simultaneous translation of speeches into English, French, or Arabic. A brief note of greetings was read from President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Among the other messages received were those from Marshall Voroshilov of the U.S.S.R. and Mao Tse-tung of China. Col. Anwar El Sadat, chief of the Egyptian delegation, was elected president of the Conference. In his inaugural speech he emphasized positive neutrality, asserting that "the neutralism in which we believe means that we keep aloof from international blocs and at the same time make positive efforts to bring about a rapprochement between these blocs." Speaking in Arabic, he affirmed that "gone forever is the time when the destinies of war and peace were decided in a few European capitals." He said that Egypt wished to repay the debt she owed for the support that Africans and Asians gave her in 1956 during the invasion of Suez. Youssef El Sebai, secretary-general of the Conference and also an Egyptian, gave a report at this opening session on how the Conference was organized. He revealed that the preparatory secretariat was not content to confine its activities to issuing invitations to attend the Conference. It sent out delegates to set forth to the peoples of Asia and Africa the aims of the Conference, publishing leaflets in Arabic and English and even using radio and the press. Heads of a number of delegations then made introductory speeches. These included Mrs. Rameshwari Nehru of India who spoke on peaceful coexistence, Ehsan El Gabry of Syria on Arab nationalism, Hussein El Owein of Lebanon on Palestine, Chu Tu-nan of China on cultural exchanges, Prof. Kaoru Yasui of Japan on nuclear matters, and Dr. Anup Singh, who acted as secretary of the preparatory commission, on the international situation. "AS BROTHER HELPS BROTHER" On December 27th, the plenary session dissolved into five commissions on administration, political relations, economic relations, social relations, and cultural relations. Some of these commissions met behind closed doors, with the press absent. The Economic Commission, meeting in the Senate room of the Egyptian parliamentary building, heard Mr. Arzumanya A. Agofonovich of the U.S.S.R. give his widely-publicized speech offering economic aid to Asian- African countries. In part he said: "We are ready to help you as brother helps brother. Tell us what you need, and we will help you and send, to the best of our capabilities, money in the form of loans or aid." He said that the Soviet bloc had nationalized industry and trade as the "most rapid and effective policy for industrial expansion and the least painful to the population. We remember the experience of Egypt in nationalizing the Suez Canal and using the profits for the benefits of Egypt." He also stated: "We can build for you institutions for industry, education, and hospitals. We can send economists to you or you can send economists to our country. Follow the route you consider best. We don't ask you to join any blocs or change governments or change your internal or foreign policies." He charged that, by contrast, American aid was always conditional upon "joining military aggressive pacts and spending most of American aid for military purposes. Now is time to break the unbalanced and unnatural economic relationships and substitute another relationship based on equality." Reportedly, these words were greeted with wild applause. Later the Soviet delegation held a news conference on economic aid in the Soviet legation, exclusively for Afro-Asian journalists. On December 28th, Sharaf R. Rashidov, head of the U.S. S.R. delegation, made news by offering in the Political Committee the backing of Russia to all independence movements. He said: "We hate imperialism and colonialism in all their wolfish manifestations. We consider violence, corruption, and exploitation inherent in imperialism and colonialism . The Soviet Union renders disinterested help to the peoples of Asia and Africa in developing their economy and particularly their industries. It establishes mutually advantageous economic relations, the aim of which is raising the peoples' living standards. The liberated peoples accept this help with satisfaction, for we do not attach to it any strings, political, military, or others. We do not interfere in the internal affairs of the countries that are getting our aid. We are guided by one feeling, one aspiration, one aim only, and that is peace and friendship between peoples." Then Mr. Rashidov referred to "the so-called 'Eisenhower Doctrine,'" by which American imperialism tried "under the guise of economic aid to underdeveloped countries, to enslave them, to hinder the development of their foreign policy." In concluding, Rashidov said: "Friends and brothers, raise your heads! The end of the slavery is near! The fresh wind of freedom and independence disperses the gloomy clouds of colonial slavery! The sun of freedom and independence is already shining over the road peoples have taken." On December 29th, delegates went to visit a spinning mill 60 miles north of Cairo in the Nile Delta and that evening the Soviet delegation gave a dinner for the Egyptian and Sudanese delegates. On December 31st, there was a final round of speeches by heads of delegations. The final plenary session, at which the Conference resolutions were approved, occurred on January first. Delegates from all colonial countries were called to the platform amid tumultuous applause and the shouting of slogans. Farewell speeches were made by Mrs. Nehru and Col. El Sadat. The same evening President Nasser gave a reception for the delegates in the Abdine Palace. On January second, most delegates went to Ismailia and Port Said to examine the site of conflict during the invasion of Suez. A select group of 60 senior delegates flew that same day to El Ariah, in Sinai, to visit refugee camps on the Gaza strip. In Cairo, delegates were quartered during the Conference at the Semiramis Hotel on the banks of the Nile. It was reported that Egypt paid the cost of housing all official delegates as well as the travel of many delegates from their capitals to Cairo and return. "UNANIMOUS AGREEMENTS" The Conference passed what could be called the Cairo Declaration (Appendix I) and some thirteen other documents. The Declaration indicated that the seven days of discussion were "harmonious" and that the Conference reached "unanimous agreements on proposals for the solution of various problems." It reaffirmed the ten principles of cooperation amongst nations first adopted at the Bandung Conference. The Conference passed four separate resolutions on nuclear weapons: 1-It called upon the U.S.A., U.S.S.R. and the U.K. to stop nuclear weapons tests, urging the U.S. and U.K. to stop tests beginning January 1958 since Russia declared its readiness to do so; 2-it appealed to the scientists of the world to take every possible step to pressure concerned governments to prohibit the use of nuclear weapons and to destroy those in stock; 3- it supported three efforts toward prohibition of nuclear tests: A Fourth World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs in August 1958, A World Congress of Peoples for Disarmament and Peaceful Coexistence in 1958, and common action by peoples in Asia and Africa on March 2, 1958, to prevent nuclear tests at Eniwetok by the U.S.A.; and 4-it urged that Asia and Africa be "a peace zone" where no nuclear and rocket weapons should exist. There were separate resolutions on three continuing issues: Palestine, Algeria, and South Africa. The conference adopted a curt resolution on Palestine (the word, Israel, was seldom used) incorporating a longer report submitted by the delegation from Palestine (Gaza). The resolution confirmed Arab rights in Palestine and declared that Israel is a "base of imperialism which threatens the progress and security of the Middle East." The resolution on Algeria urged that the independence of the Algerian people be recognized "without delay" and suggested that France negotiate immediately with the Front of National Liberation which represents the Algerian people.