Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 10 (57 page)

 
          
“All
bombers will be pulled out,” Salaam responded.

 
          
It
wasn’t what she said, but
how
she
said it—it was the Americans, all right. Hijazi was positive of it. “And of
Salimah?”

 
          
Salaam
paused for several long moments; then: “I will agree to immediately propose
legislation that will create a worker’s visa program to allow Libyan and
Sudanese laborers to enter the country so that they may apply for work in
Salimah. Then I will—”

 
          
“Not
good enough. The Western cartel must increase hiring of qualified laborers from
Libya
and decrease hiring of Asian, European, and
Western laborers. And
Libya
must be able to become a partner in the
consortium.”

 
          
“That
is up to the partnership.”

 
          
“
Egypt
is a partner—or is it?”

 
          
“Of
course it is.”

 
          
“We
do not seek a majority—only a rightful share of African natural resources. We
shall pay for the right of admission, of course—say, for a one-third share.”

 
          
“
Egypt
will retain majority ownership in the
partnership,” Salaam said after another long pause. “But
Egypt
will grant one-third of its share in the
partnership to
Libya
, but only under the condition that
Libya
buys twenty-five percent of the cartel’s
shares. Then
Egypt
’s share of the partnership will be forty percent, and
Libya
and the cartel’s share will each be
thirty.”

           
“Agreed. And as far as Libyan
laborers at Salimah ... ?”

       
    
“
Arab
laborers must exceed the number of other nationalities in Salimah,” Salaam
said. “I will not give preferential treatment to any nationality. It’s about
time we are all referred to as ‘Arabs.’ ”

           
“A wise judgment, Madame. This
includes supervisory and management positions.”

 
          
“Including
management and supervisors.”

           
“Equal pay, equal housing, equal
benefits—no forced segregation, no discrimination in jobs or locations. Full
access to all government entitlements.”

 
          
“Agreed.”

           
“And the Muslim Brotherhood.”

           
“Minister...”

           
“His Highness will ask. I must tell
him something.”

           
Another pause; then: “I will not
oppose or block legislation or debate on the subject of membership into the
Muslim Brotherhood in the People’s Assembly, and I will allow Brotherhood
officials to obtain temporary visas so that they may enter the country to meet
with our lawmakers and government officials to discuss membership. But I
promise, I will slam the door shut again if I learn that the Brotherhood tries
to organize antigovemment movements within
Egypt
, or they try to funnel weapons or money to
any antigovemment organizations within
Egypt
.”

 
          
“This
I cannot guarantee.”

           
“Then our negotiations are ended. I
will allow open, free debate on the subject of Brotherhood membership,
Minister, but I will not tolerate sedition or conspiracy. We’ll let the people
decide, without bribes or payoffs.”

 
          
Hijazi
paused. They were certainly not going to negotiate every last detail—the
important point here was that Susan Bailey Salaam was talking, negotiating, not
threatening. Hijazi at first thought that perhaps she didn’t have those
American forces under her command anymore, that maybe all this was a bluff—but
now was not the time to think about that either. A turning point was happening.
He could either seize it, or let it slip out of his fingers.

           
“Very well, Madame. All this is
subject to further negotiation, a written agreement, and His Highness’s
concurrence,” Hijazi reminded her.

 
          
“Our
deal will also have to be ratified by our People’s Assembly,” Salaam said. “And
it of course presupposes that I will be given authority to negotiate anything
with
Libya
.”

           
“Of course. I understand.”

           
“I have a demand, Minister,” Salaam
said.

 
          
“I
thought you said we have nothing to offer you, Madame.”

 
          
“This
you will do, or all our negotiations cease immediately and we go back to war.”

 
          
“Another
ultimatum? How unskilled you are at negotiations, Madame. But please, proceed
anyway.”

 
          
“Zuwayy,
you, General Fazani, and the entire Libyan government will endorse and support
me as the next president of
Egypt
,” Susan Bailey Salaam said.

 
          
“What?
We . . .
endorse
you?”

 
          
“Not
only you personally and as representatives of your government, but the king as
leader of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Salaam went on. “A full and public
endorsement, without any reservation. I require an endorsement from all the
other leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood as well.”

 
          
“If
you want their endorsement, Madame, ask them yourself.”

 
          
“If
Zuwayy is indeed the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, then his word should be
all that’s required to give me what I want,” Salaam said. “If the Brotherhood
is nothing more than a paper tiger, then this is a good opportunity for me to
find out before I give any further support for it.”

 
          
“I...
I cannot go in front of Zuwayy.... I mean, His Highness, and ask him to throw
all his support behind the person who attacked his holy city.”

 
          
“You
will do it, or
Libya
does not get its partnership in Salimah, your workers stay in your
country and fester in their poverty, and the Muslim Brotherhood starts to look
on you and your king as a gutless failure while Egyptian warplanes cruise their
skies.”

           
“This ... this will be most
difficult...

 
          
“Then
we have a deal, Minister?”

 
          
He
hesitated once more—but there was no reason to do so. “We have a deal, Madame,”
he said. “If His Highness agrees, our forces will pull back immediately.”

 
         
Juma
Mahmud Hijazi walked into Zuwayy’s office several minutes later, his face
completely expressionless. “Where the hell have you been, Juma?” Tahir Fazani
asked irritably. It appeared as if Jadallah Zuwayy was even more morose and
depressed than before.

 
          
Hijazi
ignored Fazani. “Listen, Jadallah, I think we have a solution to the problem,”
he said. Fazani looked quizzically at his longtime friend and coconspirator,
but wisely kept silent.

 
          
“What
are you talking about, Juma?” Zuwayy asked.

 
          
“A...
a back-channel contact I’ve been developing in the Egyptian government,” Hijazi
replied carefully. “I just got a call from them. They’re willing to talk. The
government wants to negotiate a cease-fire.”

 
          
“I
will only accept a surrender,” Zuwayy said. “The Egyptians surrender to me, and
they allow us to occupy the Salimah oil fields as reparations for the death and
destruction they’ve caused in
Libya
.” Both Hijazi and Fazani both rolled their
eyes in complete exasperation—now, they realized, Zuwayy had gone completely
over the edge. He wasn’t thinking clearly at all anymore.

 
          
“Don’t
worry about anything, Jadallah,” Hijazi said. “The Egyptians will agree to all
our demands. They will cease attacking our bases, they will lay down their
weapons, and they will withdraw from the frontier.”

 
          
“I
want Salimah too. They will cede Salimah to me immediately.”

 
          
“Jadallah,
they’re not going to just cede Salimah to us or anyone—we have to pay to become
part of this cartel.”

           
“Pay?
I’m not going to pay them to belong to something that is already ours!”

           
“Jadallah, we will become equal
partners with the consortium of Western oil companies that built the pipeline
and are drilling the wells—and we don’t have to lift one shovel or get our
hands messy,” Hijazi said. “Our investment could be returned to us a
hundredfold
per year.
They will also
allow Libyan workers in to work there.”

 
          
“What
good is that?”

 
          
“We
need to show that we won something from this battle,” Hijazi said. “We can say
we forced them to give us a stake in that oil project, but they can’t say we
forced them into giving it to us. We also take care of our workers by giving them
access and jobs in the world’s largest and richest oil project. They look weak
because they handed over part of their project to us, and we look like a
partner because we paid for our percentage.”

 
          
Zuwayy
shook his head in confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Juma,” he
said. “I want to just go in and take that oil field. Tahir says our troops are
in place—”

 
          
“Then
we risk getting bombed again by the Egyptians and whoever else they have
working for them,” Hijazi said. “We haven’t been able to touch the forces that
attacked Samah or Jaghbub—we certainly won’t be able to get them over
Egypt
.” He glared at Fazani, silently ordering
him to start arguing on his side, or
else.

 
          
“We
need time and money to regroup, rearm, and reorganize our forces,” Fazani said
tenuously. Hijazi nodded. “This deal will give us the time and the money to do
that.” Zuwayy looked at both his friends and advisers, and seemed to be
relenting.

 
          
“And
all we have to do is endorse Susan Bailey Salaam as president of
Egypt
,” Hijazi added quickly.

 
          
“What?”
both Fazani and Zuwayy asked in
unison.

 
          
“We
need to do this, or this whole thing unravels,” Hijazi explained. “Salaam is
seen as the hero in all this, even though she did nothing but screw some
American commander into bombing targets in
Libya
for her. She is inexperienced, naive, and
idealistic. She will allow Muslim Brotherhood representatives into
Egypt
to argue before the People’s Assembly for
membership—that alone is worth the price. If
Egypt
becomes a full member of the Brotherhood,
all African and
Middle
East
nations will
soon follow suit. But in order for this to happen, Salaam must become president
of
Egypt
. If you endorse her, and get all the other Brotherhood leaders to do
the same....”

 
          
“What? Have all of the other members endorse
an American to be president of
Egypt
!
Are you insane?”