The Egyptian-Israeli peace process is 95 per cent irreversible.” That is the professional assessment of Hedayat Abdel Nabi, the American- educated diplomatic, correspondent for Al-Ahram and interviewer for Cairo's “Voice of Peace” radio program, with whom I spoke in Cairo some months ago.

Peace is indeed very popular In Egypt. While the 99.9 per cent approval President Anwar el-Sadat received in a recent referendum understates the opposition, his peace policy enjoys the backing of a substantial majority of the general population. This includes, to all indications, the armed forces, whose loyalty remains a crucial element in the stability of the regime.