Troubled Egypt-US relations ‘will reflect on entire region’
Cairo considers turning to Russia for military aid, presenting Washington with a policy dilemma, writes Maggie Fick
RELATIONS between the US and Egypt are now in turmoil and the entire Middle East could suffer, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said in remarks made a week after Washington moved to curtail military aid to Cairo.
He told state-run Al-Ahram newspaper that Egypt had been dependent on US aid for too long but Washington was wrong to assume that the Cairo government would always follow its line.
“We are now in a delicate state reflecting the turmoil in the relationship and anyone who says otherwise is not speaking honestly,” the minister said in comments published yesterday.
US officials said the aid cut reflected Washington’s unhap- piness with Egypt’s path since the army overthrew freely elected president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood on July 3.
Egypt has criticised the decision and suggested it could turn to other countries for military aid, possibly Russia.
Egyptian security forces have cracked down hard on Islamists since the army seized power, killing hundreds and arresting thousands, including Mr Mursi and other leaders accused of inciting or carrying out violence.
Muslim Brotherhood leaders said they face more severe repression than under veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled by a popular uprising in 2011. The army-backed government calls the Brotherhood terrorists.
Islamists accuse the military of staging a coup and sabotaging democratic gains made since Mr Mubarak’s demise.
Egypt has long been the second-largest recipient of US aid after Israel and its military — the largest in the Arab world — has worked closely with Washington for decades.
The US now faces a policy dilemma: how to promote democracy while not alienating an Arab ally which has a peace treaty with Israel and controls the strategic Suez Canal.
Mr Fahmy said an extended period of instability in ties would “reflect negatively on the entire region, including American interests”.
The situation was not solely the result of the US decision to withhold aid, he said.
“The truth is that the prob- lem goes back much earlier, and is caused by the dependence of Egypt on the US aid for 30 years. (The aid) made us choose the easy option and not diversify our options,” he said.
The long-standing military relationship caused Washington to wrongly assume that Egypt would always go along with its policies and goals, Mr Fahmy said.
Most worrying for the US is the possibility that the army will turn to a rival country for military aid.
Egypt’s army is exploring its options. Military sources said last week that the army is planning to diversify its source of weapons, including a possible turn to Russia.
The government has insisted that Egypt would not bow to US pressure, saying that it finds American policy strange at a time when the country is facing what it calls a war against terrorism.
US military aid to Cairo, put at $1.3bn a year, was born out of the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
The US state department made clear it was not cutting off all aid and would continue military support for counterterrorism and security in the Sinai peninsula, bordering on Israel, where al-Qaeda-inspired militants have stepped up attacks on soldiers and police since Mr Mursi’s overthrow.
Egypt’s western allies have been trying to persuade the government and Brotherhood to engage in an inclusive political process, but neither side demonstrated enough flexibility to ease the crisis.