http://www.debka.com/article/22289/Cairo-uses-illicit-Sinai-tanks-to-bargain-for-massive-US-aid
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/20/2012 11:11 -0400
While the geopolitical focus is once again all over Iran and Israel, it may be time to take a quick look Egypt, where the recently elected, and pro-US president Mohamed Mursi is "preparing to use aircraft and tanks in Sinai for the first time since the 1973 war with Israel in its offensive against militants in the border area." Reuters continues: "The plans to step up the operation were being finalised by Egypt's newly appointed Defence Minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as he made his first visit to Sinai on Monday following the killing of 16 border guards on August 5. Egypt blamed the attack on Islamist militants and the conflict is an early test for President Mohamed Mursi - elected in June following the overthrow last year of Hosni Mubarak - to prove he can rein in militants on the border with Israel. "Al-Sisi will supervise the putting together of final plans to strike terrorist elements using aircraft and mobile rocket launchers for the first time since the beginning of the operation," an Egyptian security source said. Another security source said the army was planning to attack and besiege al-Halal mountain in central Sinai, using weapons including tanks, where militants were suspected to be hiding." Of course, what can possibly go wrong in the middle east once a government decides to escalate military expansion against militant terrorists. Look for crude to rise ever higher, and for SPR release rumors to hit the tape daily as yet another market is ensnared in price controls ahead of the election.
MENA said Morsi's visit will be the first such visit by an Egyptian head of state to Tehran since the Iranian revolution of 1979.
The agency quoted sources at the Egyptian presidency as saying on Saturday that Morsi "will participate in the summit" on his way back from China.
Other Egyptian media reports have suggested Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate who won the poll in June, might send his newly appointed deputy, Mahmoud Mekki, instead.
Egypt is the current head of the Non-Aligned Movement, founded during the Cold War to advocate the causes of the
developing world. It is set to hand over the chairmanship to Iran in the Tehran meeting.
Since Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a popular uprising last year, Egypt and Iran have signalled interest in renewing ties severed more than 30 years ago after Iran's revolution that established the Islamic Republic and Egypt's recognition of Israel.
However, with western governments pushing Iran to halt its disputed nuclear programme and the United States being a major donor to Egypt's military, any improvement in ties could become a tricky path to tread.
Morsi said in June he would sue an Iranian news agency after it quoted him as saying he was interested in restoring relations with Tehran, although his aides later said the that interview was a fabrication.
America responds
Iran hailed Morsi's victory as an "Islamic Awakening", while Morsi himself is striving to reassure Egypt's western allies wary at the prospect of Islamist rule, and Gulf states that are deeply suspicious of Iranian influence.
Richard Murphy, a former US assistant Secretary of State, told Al Jazeera that the US will likely not be pleased if Egyptian-Iranian relations are restored.
"America has tried along with Europe to forge a system of isolation of Iran and avoid giving any prestige to the regime in Iran," Murphy said.
"And [Iran’s] ability to host this Non-Aligned conference does add to its image internationally and that won’t make America happy."
Cairo uses illicit Sinai tanks to bargain for massive US aid
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 20, 2012, 9:04 AM (GMT+02:00)
Egyptian M60 tanks transported to Sinai Aug. 9
Israel’s deployment of an Iron Dome anti-missile battery in Eilat Sunday, Aug. 19, came five days after two Grad missiles were launched against its southernmost town. They exploded harmlessly.DEBKAfile’s military sources report they were primarily a warning to Egypt from al-Qaeda-linked Islamist terrorists to hold off even its minimal raids and arrests of suspected terrorists in northern Sinai.
The Egyptians have meanwhile moved a battalion of 19 Egyptian M60A-3 tanks into the peninsula, using the Islamist attacks on Egyptian and Israeli military targets of Aug. 8 as their pretext for violating the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty’s military protocols. Fearing the tanks are there to stay, Israel has asked the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department in Washington to intervene with Cairo and get them withdrawn.
Cairo never requested or received Israel’s permission to bring the tanks over.
Only when Jerusalem complained to Washington did Egyptian liaison officers contact IDF officers. They did not ask directly for permission only skirted around the tank issue by consulting IDF officers on the effectiveness of a tank offensive on the armed Islamists’ mountain strongholds, which Cairo shows no other sign of seriously contemplating. For now, Egypt is counting on Israel not making too much of a fuss so as not to be accused of obstructing efforts to fight terrorists.
On the diplomatic front, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and new Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sissi filed a complaint of their own in Washington. They accused Israel of frequently breaching the same military protocols over the years, each time the IDF used tanks around the Philadelphi pocket, Rafah and the Kerem Shalom crossing to fight off Palestinian terrorist attacks and rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
Those enclaves are marked D in the peace accords and barred to heavy weapons, like Area C in North Sinai on the Egyptian side of the border.
Israel is concerned that the Egyptians intend keeping the tanks on the Israeli border permanently or even adding some more as part of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood’s tactics for eroding the military clauses of the peace treaty with Israel until they are meaningless.
The Egyptian tank issue weighing on Cairo, Washington and Jerusalem has become additionally entangled in several broader issues: the war on terror, Cairo’s bid for lavish economic aid, President Barack Obama’s outlook on the Muslim Brotherhood’s grab for power in Cairo and signs that Egypt's new rulers are considering cozying up to Tehran. 1. Egypt keeps on avoiding its promised major counter-terror offensive in Sinai even after losing 16 troops in a terrorist attack. Its actions are limited to small police raids on suspects, a couple of arrests here and there and impounding computers. Confrontations with armed gunmen and operations against their command posts are systematically avoided.
The Egyptians have meanwhile moved a battalion of 19 Egyptian M60A-3 tanks into the peninsula, using the Islamist attacks on Egyptian and Israeli military targets of Aug. 8 as their pretext for violating the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty’s military protocols. Fearing the tanks are there to stay, Israel has asked the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department in Washington to intervene with Cairo and get them withdrawn.
Cairo never requested or received Israel’s permission to bring the tanks over.
Only when Jerusalem complained to Washington did Egyptian liaison officers contact IDF officers. They did not ask directly for permission only skirted around the tank issue by consulting IDF officers on the effectiveness of a tank offensive on the armed Islamists’ mountain strongholds, which Cairo shows no other sign of seriously contemplating. For now, Egypt is counting on Israel not making too much of a fuss so as not to be accused of obstructing efforts to fight terrorists.
On the diplomatic front, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and new Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sissi filed a complaint of their own in Washington. They accused Israel of frequently breaching the same military protocols over the years, each time the IDF used tanks around the Philadelphi pocket, Rafah and the Kerem Shalom crossing to fight off Palestinian terrorist attacks and rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
Those enclaves are marked D in the peace accords and barred to heavy weapons, like Area C in North Sinai on the Egyptian side of the border.
Israel is concerned that the Egyptians intend keeping the tanks on the Israeli border permanently or even adding some more as part of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood’s tactics for eroding the military clauses of the peace treaty with Israel until they are meaningless.
The Egyptian tank issue weighing on Cairo, Washington and Jerusalem has become additionally entangled in several broader issues: the war on terror, Cairo’s bid for lavish economic aid, President Barack Obama’s outlook on the Muslim Brotherhood’s grab for power in Cairo and signs that Egypt's new rulers are considering cozying up to Tehran. 1. Egypt keeps on avoiding its promised major counter-terror offensive in Sinai even after losing 16 troops in a terrorist attack. Its actions are limited to small police raids on suspects, a couple of arrests here and there and impounding computers. Confrontations with armed gunmen and operations against their command posts are systematically avoided.
Indeed the armed Salafist gangs felt safe enough last Wednesday to raise their heads again and fire two Grad missiles against Israeli southernmost town of Eilat. According toDEBKAfile’s exclusive, counter-terror sources, Cairo got the message: Even minor police raids must stop or else the Islamists would seriously target Eilat and other parts of southern Israel, further complicating Egypt’s relations with the US and Israel.
The warning was taken seriously by the IDF high command, which Sunday night, Aug. 19, moved an Iron Dome missile defense battery over to Eilat.
2. Washington for its part is quietly pushing President Morsi to make good on his promise of a military operation to root out al Qaeda affiliates from central Sinai. DEBKAfile’s Washington sources report that the Egyptians don’t say this outright, but are hinting that they are waiting for President Barack Obama to order the release of substantial aid funds before embarking on this counter-terror offensive or withdrawing their tanks from Sinai. They are very clear about the amounts that would satisfy them: A grant of half a billion dollars from the United States and a US guarantee for an International Monetary Fund loan of $4.6 billion.
Our sources report that the Muslim Brotherhood regime needs an urgent influx of cash to pay public sector wages on Sept. 1.
3. President Morsi is holding another move in abeyance pending the Obama administration’s response to his urgent financial needs. He has not yet replied to Tehran’s official invitation for him to represent Egypt at the non-aligned summit of Muslim nations taking place in the Iranian capital on Aug. 30. The inference is that if Washington meets Cairo’s economic aid requests, Morsi with refuse Iran’s invitation; but if it falls short, the Muslim Brotherhood will start a process of rapprochement with Iran, the first since Islamist revolutionaries seized control of Tehran in1979-80.
2. Washington for its part is quietly pushing President Morsi to make good on his promise of a military operation to root out al Qaeda affiliates from central Sinai. DEBKAfile’s Washington sources report that the Egyptians don’t say this outright, but are hinting that they are waiting for President Barack Obama to order the release of substantial aid funds before embarking on this counter-terror offensive or withdrawing their tanks from Sinai. They are very clear about the amounts that would satisfy them: A grant of half a billion dollars from the United States and a US guarantee for an International Monetary Fund loan of $4.6 billion.
Our sources report that the Muslim Brotherhood regime needs an urgent influx of cash to pay public sector wages on Sept. 1.
3. President Morsi is holding another move in abeyance pending the Obama administration’s response to his urgent financial needs. He has not yet replied to Tehran’s official invitation for him to represent Egypt at the non-aligned summit of Muslim nations taking place in the Iranian capital on Aug. 30. The inference is that if Washington meets Cairo’s economic aid requests, Morsi with refuse Iran’s invitation; but if it falls short, the Muslim Brotherhood will start a process of rapprochement with Iran, the first since Islamist revolutionaries seized control of Tehran in1979-80.
and.......
Egypt Prepares To Use Aircraft And Tanks In Sinai For First Time In 40 Years
While the geopolitical focus is once again all over Iran and Israel, it may be time to take a quick look Egypt, where the recently elected, and pro-US president Mohamed Mursi is "preparing to use aircraft and tanks in Sinai for the first time since the 1973 war with Israel in its offensive against militants in the border area." Reuters continues: "The plans to step up the operation were being finalised by Egypt's newly appointed Defence Minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as he made his first visit to Sinai on Monday following the killing of 16 border guards on August 5. Egypt blamed the attack on Islamist militants and the conflict is an early test for President Mohamed Mursi - elected in June following the overthrow last year of Hosni Mubarak - to prove he can rein in militants on the border with Israel. "Al-Sisi will supervise the putting together of final plans to strike terrorist elements using aircraft and mobile rocket launchers for the first time since the beginning of the operation," an Egyptian security source said. Another security source said the army was planning to attack and besiege al-Halal mountain in central Sinai, using weapons including tanks, where militants were suspected to be hiding." Of course, what can possibly go wrong in the middle east once a government decides to escalate military expansion against militant terrorists. Look for crude to rise ever higher, and for SPR release rumors to hit the tape daily as yet another market is ensnared in price controls ahead of the election.
More:
and.....Another security source said the army was planning to attack and besiege al-Halal mountain in central Sinai, using weapons including tanks, where militants were suspected to be hiding.Disorder has spread in North Sinai, a region with many guns that has felt neglected by the central government, since the overthrow of Mubarak in a popular uprising. Mubarak's government had worked closely with Israel to keep the region under control and Islamist President Mursi has promised to restore stability.The 1979 peace treaty between both countries limited military presence in the desert peninsula though in recent years Israel agreed to allow Egypt to deploy more forces there to stem weapons smuggling by Palestinian gunmen and other crimes.After the border attack this month, Egypt launched a joint army-police operation that has raided militant hideouts, arrested their members and seized weapons.Israeli officials, who say they are in regular contact with Cairo, have encouraged Egypt to take tough action against the gunmen responsible for the assault and have previously allowed the use of helicopters in the operation.A quick look at Egypt's brand new defense minister:Al-Sisi was appointed defence minister last week in a surprise shake-up by Mursi, replacing Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi who served as Mubarak's defence minister for 20 years.And more in depth:Sisi was sworn in as commander-in-chief of the army and defense minister on Sunday, becoming the nation's first defense minister not to hold the field marshal army rank, coming instead from the country's military intelligence unit, according to Ahram Online.It is also likely no coincidence that Sisi formerly served as commander of the country's north, including the troublesome Sinai region, where the Egyptian military just launched military airstrikes for the first time in three decades following the recent killing of 16 Egyptian border guards.Then, of course, there are the rumors. Two months ago, popular Egyptian talk show host Tawfiq Okasha alleged Sisi was basically working as a Muslim Brotherhood mole in the country's then-ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces, or SCAF, reported Daily News Egypt. SCAF took power in Egypt following last year's ousting of longtime President Hosni Mubarak.Such claims were quickly denied by SCAF, according to Daily News Egypt. But the rumor could see new life with President Morsi being the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate and all. Still, who knows.Sisi is also believed to be among the youngest, if not the youngest member of the ruling military council, and indeed is nearly two decades younger than his 75-year-old predecessor Tantawi, who lead the country's armed forces since 1991.Tantawi and Sisi also both worked as military attachés, according to Ahram Online, Sisi having served Saudi Arabia and Tantawi in Pakistan.Look forward to escalating news flow out of the Sinai, and, of course, to new all time highs in Brent in EUR, and soon in any currency.
| Egypt's Morsi to make historic trip to Tehran |
President Mohamed Morsi's state-media announced visit to Iran would mark first by Egyptian head of state since 1979.
Last Modified: 19 Aug 2012 05:24
|
Morsi, Egypt's first Islamist president, has been expected to improve ties with Tehran since his inauguration [EPA]
|
| Egypt's state news agency has reported that President Mohamed Morsi will visit Iran to attend the Non-Aligned Movement meetings on August 30. |
MENA said Morsi's visit will be the first such visit by an Egyptian head of state to Tehran since the Iranian revolution of 1979.
The agency quoted sources at the Egyptian presidency as saying on Saturday that Morsi "will participate in the summit" on his way back from China.
Other Egyptian media reports have suggested Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate who won the poll in June, might send his newly appointed deputy, Mahmoud Mekki, instead.
Egypt is the current head of the Non-Aligned Movement, founded during the Cold War to advocate the causes of the
developing world. It is set to hand over the chairmanship to Iran in the Tehran meeting.
Since Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a popular uprising last year, Egypt and Iran have signalled interest in renewing ties severed more than 30 years ago after Iran's revolution that established the Islamic Republic and Egypt's recognition of Israel.
However, with western governments pushing Iran to halt its disputed nuclear programme and the United States being a major donor to Egypt's military, any improvement in ties could become a tricky path to tread.
Morsi said in June he would sue an Iranian news agency after it quoted him as saying he was interested in restoring relations with Tehran, although his aides later said the that interview was a fabrication.
America responds
Iran hailed Morsi's victory as an "Islamic Awakening", while Morsi himself is striving to reassure Egypt's western allies wary at the prospect of Islamist rule, and Gulf states that are deeply suspicious of Iranian influence.
Richard Murphy, a former US assistant Secretary of State, told Al Jazeera that the US will likely not be pleased if Egyptian-Iranian relations are restored.
"America has tried along with Europe to forge a system of isolation of Iran and avoid giving any prestige to the regime in Iran," Murphy said.
"And [Iran’s] ability to host this Non-Aligned conference does add to its image internationally and that won’t make America happy."
| Egypt's formal recognition of Israel and Iran's revolution led in 1980 to the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the two countries, among the biggest and most influential in the Middle East. They currently have reciprocal interest sections, but not at ambassadorial level. Egypt's former president Anwar Sadat received Iran's late Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi who fled Iran following the revolution, while one of Tehran's streets is named after the man who assassinated Sadat during a military parade in 1981. |
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