Egypt, US discuss military cooperation
Egypt-USA, Politics, 4/4/2000

In a Press Conference by US Secretary of Defense William Cohen following a meeting with President Hosni Mubarak at Ittihadiyya Palace, Cairo, Egypt, Cohen said "President Mubarak, Minister Tantawi -- who was my gracious host for this visit -- and I agreed that the relationship between Egypt and the United States has never been stronger. Egypt is an important leader in the Arab world, a regional power with unrivaled influence. In addition, Egypt is an important force for peace. In our meeting, I recalled the key role that Egypt had played in resolving tensions between Syria and Turkey last year, and the steady leadership Egypt is currently providing in the Middle East peace process."

Cohen said "I just came from Israel, where Prime Minister Barak stressed the contribution that Egypt is making to the efforts to reach agreement between Israel and Syria, and to promote progress between Israel and the Palestinian authority. The Camp David accords have been a model for resolving disputes, but as Israel and Egypt both know, peace does not just happen. It must be constantly nurtured. Egypt and Israel have an opportunity to expand their dealings in ways that will benefit both countries, while improving understanding and stability throughout the region."

He added "A modern Egyptian military is one element in stability, and Egypt's ability to work consistently and constructively with many countries in the region is another. Our countries work together very closely to help Egypt to meet its defense needs so that it can be secure within its own borders and participate in regional and global peacekeeping exercises and operations. The Bright Star military exercise is one sign of Egypt's leadership in regional security affairs. I recall this very well -- I visited last fall -- and it was a remarkable exercise attended by many countries, eleven participating actively, plus the observers. In addition, Egyptian troops have served effectively in peacekeeping operations in Somalia, Bosnia, and East Timor. So, Egypt also needs to be ready to deal with problems of the future such as chemical or biological attacks. CDI, the so-called Cooperative Defense Initiative, addresses many of these threats by linking friendly countries in the region to a program to improve defenses against chemical and biological weapons."

Cohen said "In response to Egypt's current defense needs, I told President Mubarak and Minister Tantawi today that the United States has approved for sale to Egypt a new air defense system -- a short range, surface-launched version of the AMRAAM missile. When fielded, the missile will update Egypt's air defense system by replacing an older Russian missile, the SA-6. Egypt is in the process of modernizing its military with U.S. help, but Egypt's power and influence rest on more than its military. Egypt's influence grows out of its determination to work for peace and stability in both Africa and the Middle East and, for that, we commend President Mubarak and his strong leadership."

Asked that Egypt should be included in the early warning system, Secretary Cohen said "This is part of the so-called Cooperative Defense Initiative, where you would have a shared early warning system. We briefed President Mubarak when he was at the Pentagon, to show how such a system can give advance warning if a missile is ever launched against Egypt or any other country that would be linked through this system. This system would show how much warning time, where the missile is fired from, what its likely trajectory is going to be, to give advanced notice to try to be able to, number one, defend against it, then take appropriate countermeasures if it should land. This is part of the shared early warning system that we have been briefing the Egyptian military. It is part of this Cooperative Defense Initiative. If you have weapons of mass destruction, such a missile carries chemical warhead or a biological warhead, what kind of devastation that could cause. This is what we're trying to do throughout the Gulf region and also with Egypt, to have them participate"

Asked if this is only for the Gulf or other countries, Cohen said "Well, Jordan and all of the Gulf states. We are briefing this to all of the Gulf states to say this is a system whereby they can help protect their military, certainly, but also their civilian population."

Asked if it's only a nuclear threat or biological threat that is seen as being prevented by this system, Cohen said "Any type of missile can deliver a nuclear, chemical or biological warhead."

Asked about he sees the Middle East free as from weapons of mass destruction some day, Cohen said "We support a 'weapons of mass destruction free zone,' so-to-speak, a nuclear-free zone. If there is a comprehensive and lasting peace process in the Middle East, we would be supportive of that."

Cohen said about the air defense system "I can't put a figure on it just yet. What we do is we go through a process saying this is appropriate for release to Egypt. Then we go through a process of making sure we understand what is needed and its configuration. It's going to replace the SA-6, which is an old, short-range missile. This is also short range, land based, and it will simply update and modernize the current capability. Now, in terms of what it will cost, it's too early to say at this point, in terms of how much will be required. We don't have those numbers yet."

asked about Egyptians acquiring Patriot missiles, He said "We have had discussions with Minister Tantawi and also with President Mubarak about the need for Egypt to accelerate its acquisition of the Patriot. Right now, it appears to be a budgetary problem. To the extent that they can find money within their five-year program, we think that would be a high priority item for them to acquire. They are looking at it at this time. Right now it's scheduled for deployment and acquisition in 2006, it slipped from 2004 to 2006. We think it would be important to get it within the five-year time frame."

Previous Stories:
  Bill Clinton to Al Ahram: Mubarak¹s role very important   (4/1/2000)
  Mubarak ends successful visit to Washington   (3/31/2000)
  Mubarak visits Pentagon   (3/31/2000)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search