Egypt

Egypt army launches second stage of major Sinai offensive

Al Bawaba

Egyptian security forces travel along a highway during operations in the restive province of Sinai. (AFP/File)

The Egyptian armed forces announced on Wednesday the commencement of the second phase of the army’s latest operation “Martyr’s Right” in North Sinai in the cities of Sheikh Zuweid, Rafah, and Arish.

“Martyr's Right” is the largest and most comprehensive operation aimed at rooting out and killing militants in North Sinai since the group affiliated with ISIS (Daesh) mounted their largest attack in months on Egypt's security forces in July.

According to Al-Ahram Arabic news website, the second stage, which deliberately coincides with the 42nd anniversary of Egypt’s victory in the 6 October War, includes the commencement of numerous development projects and planned execution of reconstructions in North Sinai in the cities of Sheikh Zuweid, Arish, and Rafah, among others.

The armed forces also announced the dispatch of a convoy loaded with medical supplies and construction materials, as well as food for the people of Sinai.

Forces are preparing for the construction of the new town of Rafah, which will include 1200 housing units as well as a number of hospitals and schools.

The second stage of “Martyr’s Right” includes plans to build 27 water desalination plants as well as water tanks and new roads.

North Sinai, which borders Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, is a stronghold of Islamist militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, which pledged its allegiance to ISIS (Daesh) in 2014.

The Egyptian army has been battling a decade-long militant insurgency in North Sinai, which has spiked in the last two years following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

The Egyptian army announced the end of the first stage, which lasted 16 days, on 22 September after the "achievement of its primary objectives,” which reportedly included the killing of over 500 militants and destroying various “terrorist” hideouts and artillery storage facilities in North Sinai.

Phase two of the operation, according to a statement released by the army after the conclusion of the first phase, will “pave the road for creating suitable conditions to start development projects in Sinai.”

via www.albawaba.com

Response to New York Times Article “As Egypt Floods Gaza Tunnels, Smugglers Fear an End to Their Trade” | Egypt MFA Blog مدونة الخارجية المصرية

By Ahmed Abou Zeid

The article published by the New York Times On 7 October 2015, with the title “As Egypt Floods Gaza Tunnels, Smugglers Fear an End to Their Trade” ironically criticises the Egyptian government for seeking to limit illegal smuggling across its borders. The opening paragraphs of the article are audaciously intended to make the reader sympathise with the smugglers, stating the following “On a humid night in Rafah recently, six Palestinian smugglers sat around a backyard table, ticking off the damage that Egypt has done to their tunnels over the past two years… the smugglers fear that Egypt has settled on a strategy that could spell doom for their trade… ‘This is the end for us,’ said Abu Jazar, a 42-year-old smuggler”. By falsely referring to this phenomenon as “trade”, rather than illicit smuggling across an international border, which is what this really is, the NYT is trying to obfuscate reality, giving a veneer of legitimacy to what is essentially an illegal practice condemned by international and domestic law.

Could the NYT possibly not know that it is every State’s sovereign prerogative, indeed international duty, to defend and secure its borders against all kinds of illegal smuggling? What if that smuggling was taking place through clandestine, hidden, underground tunnels that can neither be monitored nor controlled? Would that not make the issue all the more urgent?

Illicit smuggling across borders, with the Egypt-Gaza border being no exception, is indeed a lucrative business. This is why the smugglers will always lament and try to circumvent attempts to regulate or eliminate their source of prosperity.

The article understates the concentration of profits in the hands of illegal tunnel operators, businessmen and investors, who will go to great lengths to maintain their steady flow of cash. For instance, they have been known to employ “nimble-bodied” children to dig the tunnels, who have often died in the process. In fact, the NYT’s attempt to lay the blame on Egypt for the contraction of Gaza’s economy, the rise of unemployment, poverty and constant power cuts is nothing short of absurd. In case the authors’ memories are failing them, Gaza’s serious economic woes are, in fact, a result of the persistent Israeli blockade, and Israel ignoring its responsibilities as an Occupying Power that is in control of four border crossings with the Gaza Strip. Easing restrictions on entry and exit through these four crossings is what is essential to rebuild Palestine’s economy.

In fact, Egypt has done its utmost to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people through hosting the 2014 Conference on Palestine, under the slogan “Reconstructing Palestine”. Advocating the persistence of an underground, illicit economy is not the way forward for Palestine and does not provide the Palestinian people with the long-term, sustainable, productive economic activity that they need.

Over and above, the NYT’s report is deliberately oblivious to the fact that the smuggling tunnels pose a significant threat to Egypt’s national security, fuelling and supplying terrorists in the Sinai. After all, if commodities can be smuggled undetected across a border, what is to stop weapons, human beings and historical and cultural artefacts from being smuggled in the same way? There is plenty of evidence that narcotics and human traffickers have repeatedly exploited the tunnels. Convicted criminals are known to have escaped through them. Weapons and firearms are constantly being smuggled across them. Antiquities are being trafficked in a way that threatens Egypt’s cultural heritage and promotes the illicit financing of terrorism. Is this the kind of lawlessness the NYT is advocating?

Paradoxically, when the borders and tunnels are not well secured, Egypt is criticised for acquiescing to smuggling and threatening Israel’s security. This leads to a Catch-22 scenario in which we are essentially “damned if we do, damned if we don’t”.

This article proves, once again, that the NYT’s biased reporting is intent on discrediting Egypt’s image in any possible way, for any possible reason. It is far from the standard of responsible and objective reporting expected from a media outlet of that reach. Beyond misleading and deceiving its wide readership, which is a feature of all NYT reporting on Egypt, this time the paper has gone a step further, advocating what would amount to a situation of lawlessness and chaos.

* Counsellor Ahmed Abu Zeid  is the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt

via mfaegypt.org

Apathy not an option this election

Prior to January 25th, Egyptians, apathetic, had steered themselves away from politics, and, at the end of the day, steered themselves clear from voting in presidential or parliamentary elections. Vote fraud, vote buying, known-ahead winners, and rubber-stamp parliaments had led Egyptians to perceive their voting rights as worthless. Starting with Nasser’s 99.9 percent win to Mubarak’s National Democratic Party 88.6 percent win, due process had never been followed causing Egyptians to withdraw from politics and its residuals.

With January 25th, Egyptians realized that their voices indeed counted and that indifference and apathy ultimately backfired. They chose to become involved, and since the 2011 parliament elections, Egyptians chose to practise their voting rights.

At times, authorities had to extend voting hours or even voting days to allow more voters to head to the polls. And at all times, media vigorously encouraged voters to head to the polls and practice their rights. But most of the time Egyptians cared enough to be involved. They headed to the polls out of their own free will. This was truly fundamental change. 

What followed was perpetual visits to the polls. In a matter of four years, Egyptians went to the polls over a dozen times: to elect presidents, elect parliaments, endorse constitutions, and accept or reject referendums.

The last round of elections Egypt witnessed was the 2014 presidential elections when Abdel Fattah El Sisi won over 90 percent of the votes. Still, over 50 million Egyptians were eligible to vote and only half this number went to the polling stations. Maybe they were sure that El Sisi, the favoured choice, would win, and, as a result, didn’t bother to stand for hours on end, in the summer heat, to vote. But maybe they were totally fatigued after the dozen or more previous elections. 

Having exhausted their election energy, they may say, at this point, let’s not worry about parliament elections that much; Egypt is already in good hands. So, in less than two weeks Egyptians should be heading to the polls yet again, but will they? And that is the million dollar question. 

If Egyptians choose incorrectly or choose not to choose at all, the end result will be catastrophic. Apathy will lead to disaster. This is why. 

One sole reason for this worry comes to mind: the resurgence of an Islamist parliamentary coalition, incognito, possibly, but a resurgence nonetheless. According to Ex-General Seif El Yazal, “I can assure you the Brotherhood will be in parliament. The Brotherhood will enter parliament as independents and will reveal ... once they have won, that they are Brotherhood." 

Indeed, Muslim Brotherhood members and other Islamist groups will be joining forces with the Al Nour, the Salafist, Party, the back door for the Muslim Brotherhood to enter parliament, and though they may have different platforms and come across as substantially conflicting and incompatible, all Islamists will choose the only other Islamist party in the race. And if Egyptians, liberalists, secularists, and moderates that is, do not want Islamists back in the parliament again, they need to stand against the imminent Islamist force. 

In the 2012 parliament election, Islamists, with El Nour Party in the lead, got over 20 percent of the votes gaining 127 seats of the almost 500 seats. Then after Morsi’s ousting, El Nour Party distanced itself from the Muslim Brotherhood—the reason? Al Nour Party will side with anyone to achieve its goals and remain in power. Formal Salafist organizations accepted being co-opted by the state after the coup to secure their existence and bid for gradual political advances. Doing so, however, undermined their ideological character and credibility.

Didn’t Islamists say that Muslims should not vote for non-Muslims? Weren’t Copts banned from voting in some ridings? And yet, 24 Christian Copts have been included in the electoral lists of the ultraconservative al-Nour Islamist party. What this stark contradiction proves is that the Al Nour Party will go any route to maintain a strong hold on the Egyptian parliament. It would even go against its own ideology to qualify and reach its goal.

This while the 2014 constitution rigidly controls the choices the president makes as far as the government, ministers, and policy makers are concerned. Egypt's constitution endows the new parliament with wide powers. "..., it can reject the president's choice for prime minister or withdraw its confidence in him. It can block him from sacking the government, even impeach the president himself." This is a vital round that Egyptians must take seriously and realize that the course that this country will take falls on the incoming parliament.

In no way am I proclaiming a rubber stamp parliament. Quite the contrary, but a parliament that works with versus works against the government trumps a parliament that is pre-emptively set to dissolve the government and impeach the president. 

Egyptians, go to the polls and choose wisely. You may be controlling Egypt’s destiny in the action. 

 

Former Egyptian general sees his bloc leading new parliament

Channel NewsAsia

CAIRO: A former intelligence officer who heads the largest loyalist coalition running in Egypt's upcoming elections expects his bloc to lead the new parliament and eventually seek to curb the legislature's wide-ranging powers.

Egypt's first parliamentary election in three years is due to begin on Oct. 18, the final step in a roadmap President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi says is aimed at restoring democracy.

The new parliament will comprise 568 members - 448 elected on an individual basis and 120 through winner-takes-all lists.

Sameh Seif Elyazal, an ex-general who now heads a pro-government think tank, said his "For the Love of Egypt" alliance would compete for all list seats and draw on individuals to form a large bloc that can pursue its legislative agenda.

"We are coordinating with the individuals so that we can have an independent parliamentary bloc ... that can lead parliament," he told Reuters in an interview at his wood-panelled office in Cairo.

Egypt has been without a parliament since June 2012 when a court dissolved the elected main chamber, then dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, reversing a major accomplishment of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Then army chief Sisi ousted elected President Mohamed Mursi of the Brotherhood the following year, after protests against his rule, and went on to win a presidential vote in 2014.

The parliamentary vote promised by the army was repeatedly postponed but will now take place over two rounds, ending in late November.

Egypt's constitution endows the new parliament with wide powers. On paper, it can reject the president's choice for prime minister or withdraw its confidence in him. It can block him from sacking the government, even impeach the president himself.

Speculation is rife that the constitution, passed in a referendum held after Mursi's removal in July 2013 but before Sisi became president, would be amended to curb those powers.

"Give it a year, a year-and-a-half, two years maximum, we will see what really does need to be amended in the constitution ... In my view there are some articles in the constitution that we should look at a bit seriously and see what we can do with them," he told Reuters.

"For example, the issue of appointing and removing ministers, the naming of the prime minister..."

In the absence of a parliament, Sisi has wielded legislative power, passing some laws that critics say curb freedom to protest or expand the remit of military courts. The constitution calls for parliament to pass or reject these within two weeks.

"I see this as impossible, 15 days and 300 laws ... In my view, we should approve these laws and debate them afterwards," Seif Elyazal said.

THE BROTHERS' RETURN?

Since Mursi's ouster, the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest Islamist movement, has been banned and branded a terrorist group. A crackdown has seen thousands of its members jailed.

Youth activists at the forefront of the 2011 revolt have also found themselves behind bars for protesting without permission from the police.

In their absence, some political parties say the elections offer no choices. They criticise the emphasis on individuals as a throwback to Mubarak-era politics, which favoured candidates with wealth and connections over parties.

Yet with Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) gone, loyalists have struggled for over a year to form alliances to secure Sisi a sizeable bloc of parliamentary support.

"For the Love of Egypt" has emerged as the most influential alliance, incorporating 10 major parties including the Free Egyptians founded by billionaire Naguib Sawiris.

Though laden with establishment figures, Seif Elyazal denied his alliance was government-backed. He said the elections did offer choice, predicting the Islamist Nour Party could win 5 or 6 percent of individual seats.

Sisi and his allies have justified the clampdown against the Brotherhood by calling the mainstream Islamists an existential threat to the Arab world and the West.

"I can assure you the Brotherhood will be in parliament," said Elyazal. "The Brotherhood will enter parliament as independents and will reveal ... once they have won, that they are Brotherhood."

(Editing by Michael Georgy and Tom Heneghan)

- Reuters

via www.channelnewsasia.com

Turkish Muslim Brotherhood calls on Egypt army personnel to dissent

AL Bawaba, via The Daily News Egypt

The Turkey-based ‘Egyptian Revolutionary Council’ called upon Egyptian soldiers and officers to quit their position in different army posts, and join sides of the people’s revolution, marking a development in the oppositions view on army service in the country.

The calls were made in a statement published by the council on the anniversary of the 6th of October War.

The group said: “This day marks the 42nd anniversary of the 6th of October War, while the military regime lead by Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is fully agreeing to terms of the ‘the enemy” and is working as a close ally on their behalf against Palestinians and Arabs.”

It added: “We acknowledge the existence of personnel in the military institution who are complaining secretly of what the ‘coup’ leaders are doing, from treason to the Egyptian military heritage.”

“We ask the soldiers and officers of the armed forces to join the masses that will go out and liberate Egypt from the gang which controlled the military institution, and changed the role of the army from that of protecting the people against foreign enemies and protecting the boarders to that of killing people by weapons that the masses bought with their money.”

The council, which has been aiming to form a parallel parliament and government against the regime of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, warned “everyone in the military institution to reconsider his position, before the Egyptian’s revolt… choosing either to side with the people or with the revolution”.

The military spokesperson was not available for comment on the issue. However, a former military colonel said that such calls are common from “radical Islamist opposition”. He added that there are divisions in the army that investigate the political inclinations of all members in the army institutions.

“After the assassination of Anwar Al-Sadat, an intelligence facility started to investigate if officers or soldiers have political affiliations. Similar calls by jihadist groups were made in the 1980s for soldiers to leave service to avoided being killed, but this never affected the army or its institutions,” he added.

On 6 October, 1981, Al-Sadat was shot by “Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya’ members of the army during a military parade.

After the military ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, several Islamist entities called upon members and affiliates not to join the army or to run away from their military posts.

Many youth movements, such as Students Against the Coup (SAC) and Ultras Nahdawy, have launched campaigns demanding that its members refrain from “reporting to the military after finishing their school years”. They requested their members not be a part of a “military that kills its own people”.

Muslim Brotherhood leader Gamal Heshmat also said that “Egyptians should prevent their relatives from joining the army”. He added that the “truth was revealed concerning the crimes of the police and the army”, saying that in many attacks conscripted soldiers die without protection from their superiors.

Dar Al-Ifta, which is the official entity in Egypt responsible for interpreting the Quran and issuing religious edicts (fatwas), said the calls are close enough to being “high treason”. The institution also claimed that the calls are “on the same side with the Islamic State”.

“The statement supports the efforts of the Islamic State to target the police and military apparatuses,” Dar Al-Ifta said, adding that members of the Muslim Brotherhood were supportive of the army “when they were in power”.

Dar Al-Ifta added that “refusing to do the military service is religiously forbidden, and security is a main pillar of the Muslim society”. It also said that the Islamic Shari’a law asserted the importance of “Jihad”, and the role of armies in blocking invasions and enemies.

However, his comments on conscription are not the first of their kind. After Morsi’s ouster and the involvement of army’s ground forces in dispersals and raids, anti-government forces heavily attacked the army, describing it as a tool of the regime.

Conscientious objection and refusing to serve in the military is not an established trend in Egyptian society, as the army is considered one of the main pillars of the modern Egyptian state.

Only one anti-military, pacifist campaign exists in Egypt, “No to Compulsory Military Service”, which was founded as a Facebook page in 2009. The group recently became a member of War Resisters International, a London-based global pacifist and anti-militarist network with 80 affiliated groups in 40 countries.

Activist Maikel Nabil Sanad started the group with the intention of “abolishing all traits of militarist rule”. Sanad, who calls himself the first conscientious objector in Egypt, released a statement on 21 October, 2010, entitled “I will not serve in the Egyptian army and I bear the consequences”, in which he explained his reasons for objecting to service.

“I am [a] pacifist, against holding weapons, against joining the military formations and paramilitary,” he wrote. “Accepting the recruitment would be coercion against my conscientious beliefs and my humanistic principles.”

Under Egyptian law, males of a specific age are obliged to undertake military service, with a period ranging from one to three years. Soldiers can spend their draft in the army or the Interior Ministry’s Central Security Forces (CSF). Males of lower educational levels serve in the CSF, a paramilitary force responsible for fighting riots and guarding embassies.

The law states that the police or the military police have the right to arrest those who do not serve, and that these individuals could possibly receive a two year prison sentence, in addition to a fine of between EGP 2,000 and EGP 5,000.

By Adham Youssef

via www.albawaba.com

Putin tells everyone exactly who created ISIS (Video)

Some footage this is.

 

October 6, 1981: Egypt's President Anwar Sadat assassinated over Israeli peace pact

Bt.com, by Chas Early

Anwar Sadat, whose peace pact with Israel earned him the Nobel Peace Prize while alienating fellow Arab leaders, was gunned down by members of his own army.

President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, whose ground-breaking pact with Israel had made him a Nobel laureate but incensed Islamists in his country and across the Arab world, was assassinated on this day in 1981 by gunmen as he watched a military parade in Cairo.

Eleven other dignitaries were killed and 28 wounded when assassins led by Khaled el Islambouli, a lieutenant in the Egyptian army with connections to the terrorist group Takfir Wal-Hajira, opened fire as they watched an aerial display.

The men had jumped out of a military truck that was part of the parade and began firing indiscriminately into the crowd, emptying their weapons.  Despite the huge military and security presence at the event to mark the eighth anniversary of the Yom Kippur war, their gunfire was not returned for at least 45 seconds.

Eventually security forces fired back, killing two of the attackers and overpowering the rest, as spectators fled for cover. President Sadat was taken by military helicopter to a hospital, but died around two hours later.

The president had been a national hero, having been part of Colonel Nasser’s Free Officers group that had overthrown King Farouk in the Egyptian Revolution in 1952. After two stints as Nasser’s Vice-President, he assumed the Presidency in 1970.

He led Egypt into the Yom Kippur War in 1973 in an attempt to regain the Sinai Peninsula from Israel, but his subsequent negotiations with their Prime Minister Menachim Begin, culminating in the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, had angered Muslims and seen Egypt suspended from the Arab League.

Do you remember Anwar Sadat’s assassination? Do you think he should be considered a hero? Let us know in the Comments section below.

Anwar Sadat – Did you know?

• Anwar Sadat spent much of World War II in jail for aiding Germany in its efforts to force the British out of Egypt.
• He had met fellow junior officer Gamal Abdel Nasser while serving in Sudan and became a member of the Free Officers, a group within the military with links to the Muslim Brotherhood, dedicated to Egyptian Nationalism.
• After King Farouk was overthrown by the Free Officers and General Muhammad Naguib installed as Egypt’s first president, it was Sadat who announced the news to the Egyptian people over state radio.
• After becoming president in 1970, Sadat had quickly gained in popularity by cutting the powers of the country’s secret police, reforming the Egyptian Army and reinstating a multi-party system.
• After Sadat became the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel in 1977, negotiations brokered by US President Jimmy Carter led to a cessation of hostilities between the two countries, the reopening of the Suez Canal and the return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
• The peace agreement between the two countries, which remains in effect, led to Sadat and Begin being jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. Sadat was the first Muslim Nobel laureate.
• Hundreds of radicals were rounded up in the aftermath of Sadat’s assassination. 25 were tried for Sadat’s murder, of whom five, including Islambouli, were executed by firing squad.

• Vice-President Hosni Mubarak succeeded Sadat as head of state, while the murdered President’s funeral was attended by a record number of dignitaries, including former US Presidents Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter (pictured above), Israeli Prime Minister Begin and Prince Charles, Lord Carrington and James Callaghan from Great Britain. However representatives of only three of the 24 Arab states went to Cairo to pay their respects.
• Egypt was not readmitted to the Arab League until 1989. Mubarak remained in power for nearly 30 years before resigning following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

via home.bt.com

Saudi invite to dissident Egypt cleric 'signals shift' on Brotherhood

Worrisome to say the least. Middle East Eye

Qatar-based Egyptian dissident cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi standing next to Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Doha, Abdullah al-Ifan, on 2 October 2015 (Twitter)

 

Qatar-based Egyptian dissident cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi standing next to Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Doha, Abdullah al-Ifan, on 2 October 2015 (Twitter) 

Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, who is sympathetic to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, attends Saudi Arabia's national day ceremony in Doha 

The attendance of a dissident Egyptian cleric at a ceremony organised by Saudi Arabia in Qatar, where he is based, was viewed as signalling a slight change of policy by Riyadh towards the Muslim Brotherhood, observers noted.  

Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, who is sympathetic to Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation and who himself was sentenced to death in absentia by an Egyptian court, was invited to celebrate Saudi Arabia's national day at the kingdom's embassy in Doha on Friday.

"We are optimistic now," an Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood member living in Qatar, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

"The new [Saudi] leadership could mean a new era for the Middle East, where Islamists are worked with and seen as partners rather than demonised."

The move was attributed to the accession to the Saudi throne in January of King Salman, who is viewed as less hostile towards the Muslim Brotherhood than his predecessor, the late King Abdullah.

"Observers see al-Qaradawi’s presence in Saudi National Day celebration in Doha as one of the manifestations of the Saudi policies during King Salman’s regime, in terms of not taking a hostile attitude towards the Muslim Brotherhood which, once again, confirms the discrepancy between Saudi and Egypt in dealing with this issue," wrote the website Middle East Monitor. 

via www.middleeasteye.net

Rise of an Arab Superpower -- With Aircraft Carriers

Via The Motley Fool

Leapfrogging Turkey, Egypt is set to become the only Arab nation with a bluewater aircraft carrier fleet.

Well, it's official now. Egypt is getting an aircraft carrier.

French Mistral-class warship. Next port of call: Egypt. Image Source: Francisco Gonzalez via Flickr.

Actually, two aircraft carriers. Earlier this month, we told you about Egypt's plans to buy both of the Mistral-class amphibious assault ships France had been trying to sell to Russia -- then refused to sell after Russia invaded Ukraine.

At that time, France had only confirmed that Egypt presented one of multiple "serious options" for offloading its aircraft carriers. Other nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Canada had also expressed interest. But last week, the French defense ministry confirmed that Egypt will indeed acquire both Mistrals for a purchase price of $1.1 billion. And Egypt may not stop at just two...

What is a "Mistral"?
Sometimes classed as "helicopter carriers," or even small aircraft carriers, each 16,500-ton Mistral warship is capable of carrying:

• 16 combat helicopters
• up to 40 tanks
• 900 assault troops
• a combination of the above three

While some might quibble that helicopter carriers aren't true "aircraft" carriers (China begs to differ), this is still pretty significant news. Historically, no Middle Eastern nation has possessed an ability to project naval air power overseas. Turkey was supposed to be the first, with its recent announcement of a $1 billion deal to have Spain build it a Juan Carlos I-class lightaircraft carrier. But that warship won't be built before 2021. 

If all goes as planned, Egypt could leapfrog Turkey, accepting delivery of its two Mistrals as soon as March 2016. 

Turkey is acquiring a light aircraft carrier of its own. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

Reportedly, Egypt plans to put both warships to use combating insurgents on its Sinai peninsula, bracketing the rebels with one Mistral stationed to the north in the Mediterranean Sea, and another in the Red Sea to the south. Incidentally, those stations will put Egypt's new aircraft carriers in position to threaten Israel as well, and to conduct other missions, such as defending Egypt's newfound gas fields off its northern coast, and supporting the Arab coalition currently battling Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Two's company, three's a fleet?
By acquiring not one, but two brand-new aircraft carriers, Egypt instantly becomes a force to be reckoned with in the Arab world -- the first and (for the next five years) only country boasting a carrier fleet. And Egypt may not stop at just two carriers; it may already be preparing to purchase a third.

Take another look at those stats up above. Each Mistral has the capacity to carry 16 combat helicopters on its deck. But we learned last week that Egypt is also Russia's fleet of 50 attack helicopters, which it was already building to embark upon the Mistrals.

KA-52 ALLIGATOR HELICOPTER GUNSHIP IN FLIGHT. IMAGE SOURCE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.

Specifically, Egypt will purchase 50 Ka-52K Alligator gunships -- a maritime version of Russia's new combat helicopter designed to replace its dreaded Mil Mi-28 Hind attack helicopter. Able to fly at night and in day, and also in adverse weather conditions, each Ka-52K boasts: 

• Armor plating to resist ground fire
• See-in-the-dark thermal optics for night attack
• Two side-mounted cannons
• Six wing-mounted hardpoints for air-to-air, air-to-ground, and antiship missiles.

In what's likely to amount to a $1.2 billion purchase, Egypt is buying 50 of these helos. That's many more than just two Mistral aircraft carriers can carry -- but would be just the right number to fill up the flight decks on three Mistrals.

What it means to investors
Separately from the carrier-related contracts, we also have word from DefenseUpdate that Egypt is buying an unspecified number of Patroller medium altitude, long endurance (MALE) drones from French defense company Sagem. While the value of this last contract is unknown, the contracts we do have good information on are already adding up quick.

SAGEM PATROLLER UAV. IMAGE SOURCE: SAGEM.

Continue reading here: Rise of an Arab Superpower—with Aircraft Carriers.

via www.fool.com

Presidency seeks to convert Long live Egypt Fund to EGP 100bn fund

Excerpt, read on Presidency seeks to convert Long Live Egypt Fund to EGP 100n fund. Daily News Egypt, by Mohamed Ahmed

Government consultancy offices offered to implement Suez Canal, renewable energy projects to benefit from fund's 60% allocation to investments

The new executive director of the Long Live Egypt Fund, Mohamed Ashmawy, affirmed the formulation of the fund’s investment policy is almost complete, set to be announced in October.

During a meeting held by the Egyptian Credit & Risk Association (ECRA) last week, Ashmawy said that President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi seeks to increase the size of the fund to EGP 100bn, to be a generations fund, like other regional and international sovereign funds.

Fund’s investment policies

Ashmawy explained that the investment principles of the fund include allocating 60% of the fund for investment projects, in a bid to secure ongoing returns for the fund, in addition to donations, while 40% of its resources will be allocated for development projects.

Ashmawy added that the Long live Egypt Company, scheduled to be launched before the end of October, will establish investment projects; including export projects and labour-intensive projects, whether through small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), or in partnership with local or international entities.

The return on capital of the company is expected to reach EGP 5bn, while paid money is at EGP 2bn. Ashmawy stressed that the fund rules out investing in projects that rely on advanced technological systems because they offer few job opportunities.

Partnership with private sector

He indicated that the fund aims for a partnership with the private sector on the establishment of traditional projects, by providing small shares ranging between 10% and 20%, while the fund will largely invest in projects that do not attract the private sector such as waste recycling, to encourage companies to invest in this field in the future.

Fund’s mechanisms

Concerning the mechanisms of the fund, Ashmawy explained that they depend on the launching of major investment committees for targeted sectors, and the number of those who manage them will not exceed 25 employees who will be in charge of coordination with consultancy firms and ministries.

“The fund addressed several banks to participate in the establishment of an investment committee to present and discuss projects and investment opportunities. The committee already includes the heads of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr and the Arab African International Bank,” Ashmawy said.

A package of new projects

Ashmawy pointed out that several consultancy firms appointed by the Egyptian government have introduced investment projects in the Suez Canal Axis Development project, and in the ​​renewable energy field.

On the other hand, he said the fund is currently working on preparing for the implementation of a huge project in the petrochemicals sector, in coordination with the premiership.

He added that the project includes three governorates, one of which is Kafr El-Sheikh in Metoubes city, in which 60 small factories would be established on areas ranging from 60 and 80 metres, specialised in manufacturing complementary parts of various products, such as caps for plastic bottles.

Ashmawy said the Long Live Egypt Fund would rely on the Social Fund for Development and Nasser Social Bank as executive arms for the fund.

He added that the Long Live Egypt Fund is coordinating with the Ministry of Social Solidarity to reconstruct Nasser Social Bank. The plan depends on developing the banks’ technological system and training the employees, to convert the bank into bank for low-income people, offering financing systems for the projects the fund will announce, such as offering cars to citizens.

via www.dailynewsegypt.com