Saudis’ Unprecedented Break with Washington over Egypt
Saudis’ Unprecedented Break with Washington over Egypt
By F. William Engdahl
Global Research, July 18, 2013
Region: Middle East & North Africa
One of the least commented aspects of ousting Egypt’s Morsi is the defiant act of the Saudi Royal House in backing the ouster of the Brotherhood and supporting the military restoration. The Saudi move is unprecedented in its open defiance of White House declared backing for the Muslim Brotherhood. The implications of the split are huge.
Twilight in the desert?
Since the time in 1945 on his return from the fateful Yalta Conference, that USPresident Roosevelt met Saudi King Ibn Saud and won exclusive rights for US Rockefeller-group oil companies to Saudi Arabia’s vast oil wealth, the relationship between Saudi and USforeign policy has been one of almost satrapy status for the Saudis.[1] Following the Kissinger-orchestrated 1973 “oil shock” in which OPEC raised its price by some 400%, Washington extracted a pledge from the Saudis that they would insure that OPEC sold its oil only in dollars, thereby ensuring the continued dominance of the US dollar as world reserve currency. In return, Washington agreed to sell US arms including training the Saudi Air Force.[2]
And in 2010 just as Washingtonlaunched its Arab Spring “democracy” offensive in Tunisia, Egyptand across the Islamic arc of crisis, the Obama Administration announced the largest arms deal in UShistory. The USagreed to sell the Saudis 84 F-15s new and upgrade another 70 as part of a €46 billion deal, the biggest arms deal in US history, as it prepared to isolate Iran. [3]
As we reported in an earlier article, before the Egyptian military coup, the Saudis had given secret assurance to Defense Minister and Chief of the Army, General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, that the Saudis along with other conservative Gulf oil states including Kuwait and UAE would guarantee financial support should the Obama Administration cut the €1 billion annual aid to Egypt’s military in retaliation for ousting their man, Morsi.[4]
On July 17, the newly-sworn-in Egyptian transitional government confirmed that it has received €6 billion in grants, loans and fuel fromSaudi Arabiaand the UAE.
Saudi Arabiaapproved €4 billion in aid to Egyptand the UAE has offered €2 billion in desperately needed support for the economy. The Saudi funds comprise a €1.5 billion central bank deposit, €1.5 billion in energy products, and €750 million in cash, Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said. The UAE will make a €750 million grant to Egyptand a €1.5 billion loan in the form of an interest-free deposit with Egypt’s central bank. [5]
The news is a double slap-in-the-face to Washington who had insisted that Morsi’s government buckle under to harsh IMF conditionalities as precondition for financial help.
Qatar reacts dramatically
Conspicuously, one Gulf energy-rich state absent from the aid is Qatar whose Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani had poured more than €6 billion in Egypt since the revolution two-and-a-half years ago and perhaps another €7 billion to bankroll Islamists in Libya, Syria and Gaza, the Palestinian enclave run by Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Qataris home to the US Central Command’s Forward Headquarters and the CombinedAirOperationsCenter. And, most notably, until the Saudi and UAE-backed military coup against Brotherhood rule in Egypt on July 3, Qatar was home to leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood and one of its major financial backers in Syria, Egypt, Libya, and across the Islamic world. [6]
Within minutes of the Saudi and UAE backed Egyptcoup, the Emir of Qatar took note of the implications and announced his abdication in favor of his son, Tamim. Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, who had shaped Qatar’s pro-Muslim Brotherhood foreign policy, has been silenced, replaced by a military man who had been serving as deputy interior minister. The new Qatarleadership is now using words like “reassessment”, “recalibration” and “corrections” to discuss their foreign policy. In brief, they dare not risk total isolation within the Saudi-dominatedGulfArab states.[7]
The Saudi decision to take bold action to stop what it saw as a disastrous US Islamic strategy of backing Brotherhood revolutions across the Islamic world has dealt a blow to the mad US strategy of believing it can use the Brotherhood as a political force to control the Islamic world more tightly and use it to destabilize China, Russia and the Islamic parts of Central Asia.
The Saudi monarchy began to fear that the secretive Brotherhood would one day rise against their rule as well. They never forgave George W. Bush and Washington for toppling the Baath Party secular dictatorship of Saddam Hussein inIraqthat brought a majority Shi’ite to power there, nor theUSdecision to topple close Saudi ally Mubarak inEgypt. America’s dutiful “vassal state” in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, revolted on July 3 by backing and supporting the military coup in Egypt.
Aside from loudly protesting the Egyptian generals’ coup against their Brotherhood allies, Washingtonso far has been able to do little, an indication of the declining US global power. The Pentagon has sent two amphibious assault ships carrying 2,600 Marines to the southern Egyptian Red Sea coast. The huge USS Kearsarge with 1,800 Marines and the USS San Antonio with 800 Marines, “moved up into the Red Sea and parked off Egypt, because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” stated General James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps.
Washington is suddenly in a major foreign policy disarray as the new Egyptian interim government is sworn in. To be continued…
Egypt warns Turkey not to meddle in its affairs | Reuters By F. William Engdahl
Global Research, July 18, 2013
Region: Middle East & North Africa
One of the least commented aspects of ousting Egypt’s Morsi is the defiant act of the Saudi Royal House in backing the ouster of the Brotherhood and supporting the military restoration. The Saudi move is unprecedented in its open defiance of White House declared backing for the Muslim Brotherhood. The implications of the split are huge.
Twilight in the desert?
Since the time in 1945 on his return from the fateful Yalta Conference, that USPresident Roosevelt met Saudi King Ibn Saud and won exclusive rights for US Rockefeller-group oil companies to Saudi Arabia’s vast oil wealth, the relationship between Saudi and USforeign policy has been one of almost satrapy status for the Saudis.[1] Following the Kissinger-orchestrated 1973 “oil shock” in which OPEC raised its price by some 400%, Washington extracted a pledge from the Saudis that they would insure that OPEC sold its oil only in dollars, thereby ensuring the continued dominance of the US dollar as world reserve currency. In return, Washington agreed to sell US arms including training the Saudi Air Force.[2]
And in 2010 just as Washingtonlaunched its Arab Spring “democracy” offensive in Tunisia, Egyptand across the Islamic arc of crisis, the Obama Administration announced the largest arms deal in UShistory. The USagreed to sell the Saudis 84 F-15s new and upgrade another 70 as part of a €46 billion deal, the biggest arms deal in US history, as it prepared to isolate Iran. [3]
As we reported in an earlier article, before the Egyptian military coup, the Saudis had given secret assurance to Defense Minister and Chief of the Army, General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, that the Saudis along with other conservative Gulf oil states including Kuwait and UAE would guarantee financial support should the Obama Administration cut the €1 billion annual aid to Egypt’s military in retaliation for ousting their man, Morsi.[4]
On July 17, the newly-sworn-in Egyptian transitional government confirmed that it has received €6 billion in grants, loans and fuel fromSaudi Arabiaand the UAE.
Saudi Arabiaapproved €4 billion in aid to Egyptand the UAE has offered €2 billion in desperately needed support for the economy. The Saudi funds comprise a €1.5 billion central bank deposit, €1.5 billion in energy products, and €750 million in cash, Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said. The UAE will make a €750 million grant to Egyptand a €1.5 billion loan in the form of an interest-free deposit with Egypt’s central bank. [5]
The news is a double slap-in-the-face to Washington who had insisted that Morsi’s government buckle under to harsh IMF conditionalities as precondition for financial help.
Qatar reacts dramatically
Conspicuously, one Gulf energy-rich state absent from the aid is Qatar whose Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani had poured more than €6 billion in Egypt since the revolution two-and-a-half years ago and perhaps another €7 billion to bankroll Islamists in Libya, Syria and Gaza, the Palestinian enclave run by Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Qataris home to the US Central Command’s Forward Headquarters and the CombinedAirOperationsCenter. And, most notably, until the Saudi and UAE-backed military coup against Brotherhood rule in Egypt on July 3, Qatar was home to leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood and one of its major financial backers in Syria, Egypt, Libya, and across the Islamic world. [6]
Within minutes of the Saudi and UAE backed Egyptcoup, the Emir of Qatar took note of the implications and announced his abdication in favor of his son, Tamim. Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, who had shaped Qatar’s pro-Muslim Brotherhood foreign policy, has been silenced, replaced by a military man who had been serving as deputy interior minister. The new Qatarleadership is now using words like “reassessment”, “recalibration” and “corrections” to discuss their foreign policy. In brief, they dare not risk total isolation within the Saudi-dominatedGulfArab states.[7]
The Saudi decision to take bold action to stop what it saw as a disastrous US Islamic strategy of backing Brotherhood revolutions across the Islamic world has dealt a blow to the mad US strategy of believing it can use the Brotherhood as a political force to control the Islamic world more tightly and use it to destabilize China, Russia and the Islamic parts of Central Asia.
The Saudi monarchy began to fear that the secretive Brotherhood would one day rise against their rule as well. They never forgave George W. Bush and Washington for toppling the Baath Party secular dictatorship of Saddam Hussein inIraqthat brought a majority Shi’ite to power there, nor theUSdecision to topple close Saudi ally Mubarak inEgypt. America’s dutiful “vassal state” in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, revolted on July 3 by backing and supporting the military coup in Egypt.
Aside from loudly protesting the Egyptian generals’ coup against their Brotherhood allies, Washingtonso far has been able to do little, an indication of the declining US global power. The Pentagon has sent two amphibious assault ships carrying 2,600 Marines to the southern Egyptian Red Sea coast. The huge USS Kearsarge with 1,800 Marines and the USS San Antonio with 800 Marines, “moved up into the Red Sea and parked off Egypt, because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” stated General James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps.
Washington is suddenly in a major foreign policy disarray as the new Egyptian interim government is sworn in. To be continued…
Egypt warns Turkey not to meddle in its affairs
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt warned Turkey on Tuesday against interfering in its internal affairs following Ankara's condemnation of the overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi, which has reoriented diplomatic relations across the region.
Turkey's government, which like Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood has Islamist roots, denounced the Egyptian military's removal of Mursi, an elected leader, as an "unacceptable coup" in what Cairo views as the strongest criticism from overseas.
"I consider the (Turkish) statements inappropriate and I consider it interference in Egyptian internal affairs," presidential spokesman Ahmed Elmoslmany told reporters in Cairo.
Last week, Egypt summoned Turkey's ambassador to protest about Ankara's statements on developments in Cairo.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has also condemned bloody clashes in Cairo between Republican Guard soldiers and pro-Mursi demonstrators in which 57 people were killed and many more injured.
"I clearly say to Ankara, it should respect Egyptian sovereignty and the will of the Egyptian people. Egypt did not interfere in what happened in Taksim Square," Elmoslmany said, referring to anti-government protests in Istanbul last month.
"Turkey has to understand it is speaking about a big country with a great history," he added.
Five people died and thousands were wounded during a month of protests in Istanbul and other Turkish cities which began peacefully in late May over plans to redevelop an Istanbul park but spiraled into a broader show of defiance against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government.
During his decade in power, Erdogan has managed to curb the power of the once-mighty Turkish military, which had ousted four elected governments since 1960.
(Reporting by Yasmine Saleh, editing by Gareth Jones)
Egypt voices 'strong resentment' at Turkey's Morsi support
Supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi protest in Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 9, 2013. AP Photo
Egypt's interim government voiced "strong resentment" on Tuesday at comments by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backing ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
The foreign ministry expressed "strong resentment at comments like these, which... represent a clear intervention in internal Egyptian affairs," its spokesman Badr Abdelatty said.
Erdoğan said on Sunday that democratically-elected Morsi, who was ousted in a popularly-backed military coup on July 3, was Egypt's only legitimate president.
"Currently, my president in Egypt is Morsi because he was elected by the people," Erdoğan, who like Morsi hails from an Islamist party, said in an interview with a Turkish newspaper.
Abdelatty called on Turkish officials to put "the historic relationship and shared interests" of their two countries above any "narrow party interests".
A spokesman for Egypt's interim president also criticised the Turkish leader's remarks, calling them "inappropriate" and an "intervention" in Egypt's domestic affairs.
"It is down to Ankara to respect the will of the Egyptian people who went out on June 30," Ahmed al-Muslimani said in comments reported by Egyptian daily Al-Ahram's website.
The foreign ministry expressed "strong resentment at comments like these, which... represent a clear intervention in internal Egyptian affairs," its spokesman Badr Abdelatty said.
Erdoğan said on Sunday that democratically-elected Morsi, who was ousted in a popularly-backed military coup on July 3, was Egypt's only legitimate president.
"Currently, my president in Egypt is Morsi because he was elected by the people," Erdoğan, who like Morsi hails from an Islamist party, said in an interview with a Turkish newspaper.
Abdelatty called on Turkish officials to put "the historic relationship and shared interests" of their two countries above any "narrow party interests".
A spokesman for Egypt's interim president also criticised the Turkish leader's remarks, calling them "inappropriate" and an "intervention" in Egypt's domestic affairs.
"It is down to Ankara to respect the will of the Egyptian people who went out on June 30," Ahmed al-Muslimani said in comments reported by Egyptian daily Al-Ahram's website.
July/16/2013
Turkey won’t send congratulatory message to ‘coup administration’ in Egypt
Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chair Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. DHA photo
Turkey will not send a congratulatory message the “coup administration” in Egypt, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chair Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said, stressing that the fact Turkish officials have been holding talks with the Egyptian ambassador in Ankara does not mean that Turkey has been “recognizing the coup administration.”
“We clearly expressed to him that in principle the AKP is against coup d’états … We told him that we won’t send a congratulatory message to an administration appointed by a coup,” Çavuşoğlu told Anadolu Agency today.
However, he also added that Turkey was keeping open dialogue channels with Egypt. “We believe in civil democracy. We are not against the Egyptian people, and we do not make such a distinction as ‘pro-Morsi’ or ‘anti-Morsi,’” he said.
Turkish officials have not had any contact with new Egyptian administration, Çavuşoğlu said.
Earlier this week, President Abdullah Gül and some other Turkish officials met with Egypt’s Ambassador to AnkaraAbdel-Rahman Salaheddin.
“We clearly expressed to him that in principle the AKP is against coup d’états … We told him that we won’t send a congratulatory message to an administration appointed by a coup,” Çavuşoğlu told Anadolu Agency today.
However, he also added that Turkey was keeping open dialogue channels with Egypt. “We believe in civil democracy. We are not against the Egyptian people, and we do not make such a distinction as ‘pro-Morsi’ or ‘anti-Morsi,’” he said.
Turkish officials have not had any contact with new Egyptian administration, Çavuşoğlu said.
Earlier this week, President Abdullah Gül and some other Turkish officials met with Egypt’s Ambassador to AnkaraAbdel-Rahman Salaheddin.
July/18/2013
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