Egypt strikes arms convoy from Libya

Sisi ratifies isles pact

CAIRO, June 27, (Agencies): Egyptian warplanes struck a convoy of 12 vehicles about to be driven across the border from Libya carrying weapons and ammunition, the military said on Tuesday.

The military said in a statement that it had acted on “intelligence indicating a number of criminal elements had gathered to cross the border into Egypt using a number of four-wheeldrive vehicles”.

An official in the armed forces told AFP the vehicles had been on the move from Libya.

Air force units found “the hostile targets, confirmed their coordinates and dealt with them for more than 12 hours,” the military said, without specifying when the raids were carried out.

“The operation led to the targeting and destruction of 12 four-wheel-drive vehicles carrying quantities of weapons, ammunition, and explosive materials,” it added.

The official Facebook page of Egypt’s military spokesman published a video showing warplanes taking off on the mission, as well as footage from the air of vehicles being struck.

Libya has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, with rival authorities and militias battling for control of the oil-rich country.

Egypt has repeatedly expressed concern over militants crossing into its territory from Libya to conduct attacks.

In a speech last month, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said setbacks by the Islamic State group in Syria were driving its fighters to try to relocate to Libya and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Last month, Egypt launched air strikes against “terror camps” in Libya in retaliation for a deadly attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt, saying the assailants had been trained there.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s president on Saturday ratified a disputed 2016 agreement under which his country would transfer control of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, following through on his assertion earlier this week that the matter was closed.

News of el-Sisi’s ratification of the maritime border demarcation agreement with Saudi Arabia came in a Cabinet statement, which appeared to be carefully timed to head off, or at least delay, any street protests over the surrender of the islands, which the Egyptian government insists have always been Saudi.

It was issued shortly before sunset, when most were at or heading home to eat Iftar — the meal with which Muslims break their fasts during their holy month of Ramadan.

“This matter has been closed and I am only bringing it up again because we have nothing to hide,” el-Sisi said in televised comments earlier this week. “You have entrusted me with this nation and for this I will be held accountable not just before you but also before God.”

Parliament approved the agreement on June 14 amid chaotic scenes of shouting matches by lawmakers arguing over the deal, whose announcement during an April 2016 visit by Saudi King Salman sparked the largest street protests since el-Sisi took office in 2014. Parliament’s approval of the deal sparked a series of small protests earlier this month, but they were swiftly broken up by security forces.

Authorities have meanwhile arrested at least 120 people who voiced opposition or took to the streets to protest the

agreement. Most of them have since been freed.

The government maintains that the Saudis placed the two islands under Egypt’s protection in the 1950’s amid Arab-Israeli tension. Critics say the islands were transferred in exchange for billions of dollars of Saudi aid. The government denies the claim, insisting it would never cede Egyptian territory to anyone.

Parliament’s approval of the agreement was secured in defiance of two court rulings in June 2016 and January this year that reaffirmed Egypt’s ownership of the islands.

However, the Supreme Constitutional Court on Wednesday annulled those two rulings as well as another two in support of the agreement. It said its decision was made upon a government request and that former tribunals may have infringed upon the prerogatives of the government’s legislative and executive branches.

The islands of Tiran and Sanafir are at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba. Significantly, Tiran controls a narrow shipping lane — the so-called Strait of Tiran — that leads north to the ports of Eilat and Aqaba, in Israel and Jordan respectively. Israel occupied the two islands in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war but returned them to Egypt under the two countries’ 1979 peace treaty.