History of Egypt under Anwar Sadat help from the Sadat regime) from a minority group to being "in complete control of the universities" with the leftist organizations being driven underground. In the late 1970s, he began calling himself "The Believer President" and signing his name "Mohammad" Anwar Sadat. He ordered Egypt's state-run television to interrupt programs with the adhan (call to prayer) on the screen five times a day and to increase religious programming. Under his rule local officials banned the sale of alcohol except at places catering to foreign tourists in more than half of Egypt's 26 governorates. However, Islamists came to clash with Sadat
History of Egypt under Anwar Sadat with Israel in hopes of regaining the Sinai peninsula and reviving a country demoralized from the 1967 war. He hoped that at least a limited victory over the Israelis would alter the status quo. In the months before the war Sadat engaged in a diplomatic offensive and by the fall of 1973 had support for a war of more than a hundred states, including most of the countries of the Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement, and Organization of African Unity. Syria agreed to join Egypt in attacking Israel. Egypt's armed forces achieved initial successes in the Crossing and advanced 15 km,