 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
 |
 |
|
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
|
|
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Supplement Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Egypt and US
By Amira Ibrahim
bolster defence ties
Within the framework of continuing military coordination between Egypt and the United States, Defence Minister Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi left on Saturday on a six-day visit to Washington, at the invitation of William Cohen, his American opposite number. Cohen had visited Cairo two months ago.
Defence Minister Field Marshal Tantawi meets with his American counterpart Cohen during his visit
Tantawi was given an official welcome at the Pentagon on Tuesday. He held talks with Cohen and other military officials as well as Congressmen and Senators.
High on Tantawi's agenda was a discussion of military aid with Congressmen and Senators, who must approve it in the coming few months. The talks dealt with a State Department proposal to invest $770 million of US aid in the Federal Reserve Bank, which would generate $45 million annually.
Military relations between Egypt and the United States date back 20 years when Washington sponsored the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Egypt receives the second largest US foreign aid allocation after Israel. Since the signing of the peace treaty, Washington has granted Cairo an annual $2.1 billion, $1.3 billion of which is military aid. The aid finances arms sales as well as training programmes.
Two months ago, the US agreed to sell Egypt $3.2 billion worth of weapons, including 24 F-16 jetfighters, 200 M1A1 tanks and 32 patriot anti-missile missiles.
Cohen announced the proposed sale -- which requires Congressional approval -- during his Cairo visit. US officials said the hardware is unlikely to be delivered for some years because the patriots are still being developed and the F-16 warplanes have yet to be built.
Some Israeli officials expressed concern after the United States gave the green light to billions of dollars of weapons sales to Egypt and the Gulf states.
"Israel is concerned about the level of armament in the Middle East, as well as the lack of military-to-military contacts between the Israeli and Egyptian military," an Israeli official said. "The bulk of the Egyptian military is trained, deployed and indoctrinated vis-à-vis the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces], whatever they say on the Hill."
But Cohen defended the deal by saying that each country ought to be secure and free to request the technology and equipment that it believes will serve its national security interests. "To the extent that we have relationships as we do with Egypt -- a very positive, constructive, powerful relationship -- and they feel that they have to modernise their systems in order to protect the people of Egypt, we want to respond in a positive way," Cohen said during his Cairo visit.
Preparations for the Bright Star joint military exercise, expected next October, will be reviewed by Tantawi and Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Bright Star has been held every other year since 1981, with the participation of several Arab and European countries. It is considered one of the biggest and most important joint training programmes in the Middle East.
Additionally, the marine exercise, Eagle Salute, is held in the Red Sea, and the Iron Cobra exercise for special forces, is staged in the Western Desert.
Tantawi's visit, his first to Washington in three years, has a political dimension as well, because it comes ahead of President Hosni Mubarak's trip to the United States at the end of next month.
Tantawi is expected to meet today with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger and Martin Indyk, under-secretary for near eastern affairs. The meetings are expected to focus on the stalled Middle East peace process.
