North Korean missiles for sale in Cairo embassy

Egypt facilitates weapons sales

CAIRO — On an island in the Suez Canal, a towe r i n g A K - 4 7 r i f l e , its muzzle and bayonet pointed skyward, symbolizes one of Egypt’s most enduring alliances.

Decades ago, North Korea presented it to Egypt to commemorate the 1973 war against Israel, when North Korean pilots fought and died on the Egyptian side.

But now the statue has come to signify another aspect of Egypt’s ties to North Korea: a furtive trade in illegal weapons that has upset President Abdel-Fattah el- Sissi’s otherwise cozy relations h i p w i t h the United States, set off a painful cut in military aid and drawn unremitting scrutiny from U.N. inspectors.

Egypt has purchased North Korean weapons and allowed North Korean diplomats to use their Cairo embassy as a base for military sales across the region, U.S. and U.N. officials say.

Those transactions earned vital hard cash for North Korea, but they violated internat i o n a l sanctions and drew the ire of Egypt’s main military patron, the United States, which cut or suspended $291 million in military aid.

Tensions may bubble up again in the coming weeks with the publication of a U.N. report that contains new information about the cargo of a rusty North Korean freighter intercepted off the coast of Egypt in 2016.

The ship was carrying 30,000 rocket-propelled grenades worth an estimated $26 million.

The report, due to be released this month, identifies the customer for the weapons as an arm of the Arab Organization for Industrialization, Egypt’s main state weapons conglomerate. Mr. Sissi heads the committee that oversees the group.

Egypt has previously denied being the intended recipient of the weapons, or breaching international sanctions. In response to questions about the U.N. finding, the State Information Service said this past week:

“The relevant Egyptian authorities have undertaken all the necessary measures in relation to the North Korean ship in full transparency and under the supervision” of U.N. officials.

But that diplomatic representation, in an embassy that doubles as a regional arms dealership, is the problem, U.S. officials have said.

In addition, Washington worries that North Korea is still supplying missile parts, said And r e a B e r g e r , a N o r t h Korea specialist at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

“Ballistic missile customers are the most concerning of North Korea’s partners and deserve the highest attention,” she said.

“Egypt is one of those.”