Diplomatic relations and political cooperation between the Soviet Union and the countries of North Africa have been developing for several decades already. The Egyptian journal Al-Talia wrote several years ago: "In its first foreign policy documents after the October Revolution, the Soviet state demonstrated its desire to establish new relations with the peoples of the East. The Soviet Union’s assistance to the national liberation movement of the peoples of the world is an expression of the principles of its policy, of its strategic course towards joint struggle against imperialism.”  [78•1