President Nasser visit to Federal Republic of Tanzania

On September, 22, 1966, President Gamal Abdel Nasser arrived at Dar es Salaam Airport on an official visit to Tanzania. He arrived at the head of an Egyptian delegation consisting of; Mr. Zakaria Mohieldin, Vice President of the Republic, Mr. Anwar El-Sadat, Speaker of the National Assembly, Major General Salah Mohamed Nasr, Head of the General Intelligence Service, Ambassador Mahmoud Riyad, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mohamed Faeq, Minister of National Guidance, and journalist and writer Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram newspaper. They were received by Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, and a large assemblage of Tanzanian officials.

On the cannon shots, the two presidents climbed the official podium, where the military band played the national anthem of the two countries. The reception was the most wonderful of it's kind, received by a head of state who visited Tanzania. The capital was dressed in adornments, in which Arab flags were raised everywhere, as the masses welcomed President Gamal Abdel Nasser with cheers, dancing and drums.

The procession of the two presidents moved from the airport to the heart of the city between a popular demonstration that the city had not witnessed before. There were Hundreds of thousands of residents of the Tanzanian capital, and from neighboring cities and villages, who came from the two countries neighboring Tanzania; Kenya and Uganda. These mass delegations saluted the leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, who crushed colonialism and achieved victory for his country. 

The procession of the two presidents arrived at the guesthouse. In the palace garden, folk dance troupes and drummers were dancing in their brightly colored clothes. Inside the palace, President Gamal Abdel Nasser and his companions rested for some time.

In the evening, President Julius Nyerere held a dinner banquet at the Republican Palace in honor of President Nasser and the accompanying delegation, attended by senior state and party figures in Tanzania, politicians and their families. Upon their arrival at the palace, the two presidents were warmly received, and took seats at the top table. President Gamal Abdel Nasser delivered a speech as follows:

Dear friend President Julius Nyerere

Dear Friends and Guests:

I still - my friend - remember a word I heard from you when you were officially visiting our country and our people in the wake of the Second African Conference in Cairo in July 1964. At that time I heard you say that there is a popular Tanzanian proverb saying, "the most expressive expression of thanks and gratitude for the feelings of honor and hospitality which the guest receives is to be fully pleased with the hospitality. "And that, my friend, is what we have done since we arrived this day in Dar es Salaam and, meeting you and the great people of Tanzania, we felt all the friendship and friendliness. And even more than that, we felt the brotherhood of struggle and the unity of hope.

The brotherhood of struggle and the unity of hope between Tanzania and the United Arab Republic is a geographical and historical fact in addition to being a political, social and intellectual reality. The convergence and interaction of facts in our relation does not only link the past with the present, but extends the bond to the land and to the human being, opening the door of the prosperous future, at which we stand with a free will, to our people of both countries.

Here, my friend, inside this country there is a road that leads directly to the United Arab Republic. It is a road extented by the will of God and without obstacles from Lake Victoria to Cairo, then branching into Rashid and Damietta; a road that runs from the beginning of time till eternity. At its beginning is your great people and at its end is the people of Egypt, the creator of the first African civilization, the first human civilization.

The Nile, which begins its blessed journey from your land, brothers, is not just a passage from the heart of the glorious African continent to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Rather, it is a way of life with all its meanings and dimensions. 

Moreover, despite all the attempts made by foreign economic and military colonialism to sow doubts and awaken strife, the Islamic and Arab civilizations has established between us intellectual and spiritual links that have had their effects. With regard to the political, social and intellectual realities and their role in the brotherhood of struggle and the unity of hope among us, let me tell you, my friend, that our people have followed your struggle here with growing admiration and deep appreciation. We have followed the role played by the leadership of the national revolution until you were able to bring it to the stage of independence. We followed you in your confrontation with the decisive stage in the life of any people, the stage in which they hold the reins of their will, then begin to realize the long hopes that accompanied their struggle for political freedom. 

We were very impressed with your efforts calling to affirm the national, patriotic and cultural unity of your people, as we realized that path alone is the path to achieving social freedom in order to consolidate and protect political freedom. Moreover, it is the path of progress, development and reconstruction in all fields. It is a way to catch up with the independent and the new decent life, for which all the developed peoples in the era of the explosion of the atom and the conquest of space hope and work. You all have been able to deepen all of this with a broad and comprehensive view of the whole of Africa, its freedom and its prosperity. Since the first day when it regained its freedom through its struggle, this land has become a icon for freedom struggle in the entire continent. Thus, the choice of the Organization of African Unity in Dar es Salaam to be the seat of the African Liberation Committee was a natural choice made by your people and endorsed by the continent with all its peoples out of faith and confidence in freedom and unity.

Here! Your land is an advanced center for the struggle of African freedom, close to the strongholds of colonial and racist domination, solid and stable. The Tanzanian unity of Tanganyika and Zanzibar is an exciting experience for the future of Africa. Over the centuries, foreign colonialism has invaded Africa, causing tribalism, racial and religious strife in order to achieve political and economic control.

Dear friend, dear friends:

I bring to you here the greetings of the Egyptian Arab African people and their appreciation for your continuous struggle and their confidence in your success. I bring you their absolute and sincere readiness to cooperate with you in all fields and without reservations. A cooperation based on faith in the brotherhood of struggle and the unity of hope; struggle and hope for our peoples, for our continent, and for our world, which today faces enormous dangers. Concerted efforts of all believers in peace based on justice are certainly required.

Dear brothers:

I call on you to stand with me in saluting my dear friend President Julius Nyerere and his wife, the Government of Tanzania and the glorious people of Tanzania.

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