1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat, Ford stated the sale of AWACS planes to Saudi Arabia had become more important to the stabilizing of the Middle East and said the Reagan administration would be required to strength relations with other Arab countries. He also predicted that the passage of President Reagan's proposal on the Saudi arms package would have a heightened chance of being approved by Congress due to Sadat's death. In October 1981, during a joint interview with Carter, Ford stated that he believed peace could only be achieved in the Middle East with American recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization, breaking with the views espoused by President Reagan. After the 1983 resignation of Menachem Begin as Israeli Prime Minister, Ford told reporters ahead of attending a meeting of the presidential bipartisan commission on Central America that he hoped new leadership would bring about more flexible policies within the Middle East. In April 1984, during a press conference at Fairfield University, Ford charged the personal objectives of Lebanese leaders with hampering with efforts toward achieving peace within the Middle East and stated the Reagan administration was correct in choosing to remove troops from Lebanon. On January 30, 1991, in an address to students of the University of California, Irvine, Ford stated President of Iraq Saddam Hussein should be purged of his position following allied forces prevailing against Iraqi troops as he believed it was "in the best interests of the Iraqi people". Saddam would remain in his position until the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Views on successors Jimmy Carter On March 23, 1977, during a speech at the Union Club, Ford stated that the Soviet Union was engaging in a buildup that would worsen the chance for an arms accord. Ford's prepared text stated that Paul C. Warnke narrowly being confirmed as President Carter's chief negotiator on arms had been a warning to the Soviet Union on its continued buildup. The following day, Ford returned to Washington and met with President Carter. On June 30, after President Carter announced his decision to cancel the B1 bomber, Ford told newsmen that he disagreed and that Carter was gambling "on a cruise missile system that is still in the research and development stage." On August 16, Ford stated his support for the Carter administration's Panama Canal agreement, saying that he was convinced the treaty's approval would be "in the national interest of