Sadat: Soviet-made arms bought by US for Afghans

Egyptian President Sadat said in an interview that the United States has been secretly buying Soviet-made arms from Egypt for guerrillas fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

A State Department spokesman in Washington declined to comment on the statement.

President Sadat told NBC's correspondent here that the covert operation has been going on since the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan 21 months ago.

He said the Soviet-made arms were supplied to Egypt during its period of friendly relations with Moscow before the 1973 Middle East war.

A high government officials in Cairo told NBC that the arms were flown to Pakistan, where many of the guerrillas are based. The official also said the arms now being sent are Egyptian-made replicas of the Soviet originals