The reality is, El-Sisi has made Egypt stable. Of course it came with a heavy price.

You must have heard in the news that the Egyptian president is going to be the chief guest of India on Republic Day that is on 26 January 2023, in fact the Egyptian troops would also be part of the 74th Republic Day Parade they will be walking along the Indian contingents on Kartavya Path.

The main question is why did the Indian government choose Egypt?

To answer this question we need to first understand who the Egyptian president is.

The President of Egypt is Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, he is popularly known as El-Sisi.

Of course India and Egypt enjoy warm and friendly relations. The two countries work closely at multilateral and international platforms.

Bilateral trade between India and Egypt has achieved a record high of 7.26 billion dollars in 2021 and 22. So all of this is great but then just because trade is doing good between India and Egypt or any other country it doesn’t necessarily mean that India has to select that particular country with whom trade is high and based on that to impress them Indian government is inviting the state head to attend a republic day.

It is not like that in fact there are many other countries with whom India does much higher volume trade when compared to Egypt so trade economy is not the reason behind inviting the Egyptian president there is something else.

Now let me give you some information about the Egyptian president in brief because we need to know few things about who this person is.

El-Sisi has been the Egyptian president since 2014. He is the Sixth President of Egypt. Before becoming a politician, he was a military officer, who has served in the Egyptian army with his dedication and hard work he commanded various positions.

That way in 2011 he rose to the rank of General that is chief of Egyptian Army wherein he also went on to become a member of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF).

During that time Hosni Mubarak was the president of Egypt, he served as the president for 29 years. He was a member of the National Democratic Party which is often referred to as, National Party in Egypt.

They were the ruling political party in Egypt from 1978 to 2011. Always remember one point if there is a word called Democratic in a political party then chances are United States has some involvement in it.

Guess what, Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel in 1979 was organized by United States under Camp David Accords the National Democratic Party of Egypt had good relations with the United States.

Since United States was giving Aid to Egypt for years, in fact Egypt supported and was part of United States military coalition during the Persian Gulf crisis and Iraqi War. So if you see Hosni Mubarak was very much cultivated by the United States and that is what made him enjoy his 29 years long presidency.

But then you also have to understand this that during his 29 years of president currency the Egyptian Society was suffering, from inefficient Administration, abuse of power, increasing corruption, political suppression, police brutality and falling living standards, now all of this led to his incompetency.

As a result in 2011 there was a revolution in Egypt which began on 25th January 2011. Millions of protesters belonging to various socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. In the following month that is in February 2011 Hosni Mubarak resigned.

The statement came after reports said that “Mr. Mubarak had left the presidential Palace and gone to the Egyptian Red Sea Resort of Sharm El Sheikh”.

People were extremely happy with his resignation. Immediately after his resignation the SCAF took over Egypt. Then President Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down from his post, as President of the Republic the SCAF to manage the Affairs of the country.

By 2011 El-Sisi was already a general as well as member of the SCAF, since there was no president in Egypt for the year 2011 the head of the SCAF that is Field Marshal Mohammed Soliman was practically running the country for one and a half years.

In other words military was running Egypt but people of Egypt were happy about it. They had no complaints from the Egyptian Military, except few minorities who had problem with everyone and every time.

Anyhow, so during the first year of military rule, General El-Sisi came into the limelight.

General El-Sisi who is a devout Muslim in the year 2011, started holding internal talks with a group called the Muslim Brotherhood, it is the Sunni Islamist religious group.

They are extremists. This group had links in many other Muslim countries but they had a large base in Egypt, so General came in contact with them and what is more interesting is that after the 2011 Revolution and the removal of Hosni Mubarak this Islamic group launched a political party by the name ‘Freedom and Justice Party’ just to contest elections.

So basically this new political party has same mission and goal, but different roles.

In June 2012, Muhammad Morsi a senior figure in the Muslim Brotherhood group became Egypt’s first democratically elected president, and two months later he appointed General as the commander-in-chief of the military and defense minister of Egypt.

In the same year that is in 2012, nationwide protests erupted against the new president Morsi, and his group the Muslim Brotherhood-led government.

Since people had anger and fear, that this extremist religious group would preach and impose hardline interpretation of Islam. This protest went on till the end of June 2013.

On 3rd July 2013 general El-Sisi appeared on television to announce that the President Morsi had been removed from office.

The constitution was suspended and an interim government was installed.

He said, “Muhammad Morsi had failed to fulfill the hope for the national consensus”.

US media reported, “Early Wednesday evening, tanks and troops moved toward the Presidential Palace, and soon after, the military officially removed Morsi from power. They suspended the constitution, and installed an interim government”.

Basically El-Sisi was involved in the military coup that removed president Morsi from office on 3rd July 2013, in response to the June 2013 Egyptian protests.

Since all of this was announced by General El-Sisi on the National Television. He used the words, “Mohammad Morsi had failed to fulfill the hope for the national consensus”.

People resonated with his sentence, and on top of it Egyptians had hope, and they saw that hope in El-Sisi.

People felt that the people and the Army are one hand. Adly Mansoor served as the interim president from July 2013 to June 2014.

Further, if you see the Egyptian Military removed Muhammad Morsi so naturally Muslim Brotherhood supporters and other groups opposed military’s actions even they held protests throughout Egypt but Egyptian Security Forces confronted them with deadly force

In this one year from July 2013 to June 2014 when Adly Mansoor was running the country as an interim president, General El-Sisi preparing for his political career.

In January 2014, General El-Sisi was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal, Egypt’s highest army rank. Since he enjoyed strong support from the military, hence you can say that he received the Egyptian military’s blessings and support for contesting in presidential election.

Two months later, that is in March 2014 he announced his retirement from the military and launched his election campaign under the slogan “Long Live Egypt”.

He then outlined an ambitious plan to develop agriculture, housing, education, impoverished areas, and boost employment

Since he was already popular and his election manifesto appealed to the public.

General El-Sisi was elected president in May 2014 with 97% of the vote. If you look at the Egyptian president’s term, it is for six years that means in 2020 president El-Sisi had to face another election. Again he won with a landslide Victory with nearly 75% of the total vote.

Why he won?

If you look at the final seat distribution after the 2020 election there is a party called Nation’s Future Party. It got 360 seats. Moreover, President El-Sisi is an independent candidate so this party strongly backs President El-Sisi.

Why would a political party with so many votes back an independent candidate?

They can very well find someone from their own party. The reason they backed President El-Sisi is because he is known as a very strict administrator. He is even stricter than the previous leader Hosni Mubarak who has ruled Egypt for almost 30 years.

The reality is, El-Sisi has made Egypt stable. Of course it came with a heavy price.

Various groups even accuse him of human rights violation but nevertheless he did restore stability by cracking down on radical Islamist militants. He even banned the Muslim Brotherhood group and arrested its top leaders and supporters.

Many were later given death sentences or lengthy prison terms, that is why he is accused of violating human rights. But then everyone knows that these so-called human rights activists always provide intellectual cover-fire to these radical Islamist Jihadi groups. It is a common practice in Kashmir, and Indians are aware of it.

Further, El-Sisi was also responsible for the devaluation of Egypt’s currency in 2016.

Please remember that, devaluation happens when a government makes monetary policy to reduce their own currency’s value.

Usually there are three strong reasons behind it:

1- To boost exports: Devalued currency would make products less expensive.

2- To reduce trade deficits: After devaluation, exports will increase and imports will decrease but then in the long run it can the economy. However, if you do it thoughtfully then devaluing the home currency, can help you correct the balance of payments and reduce trade deficits.

3- To reduces sovereign debt burden: After devaluation, a weaker currency makes government debt payments effectively less expensive. Even this tactic should be used with caution.

Anyhow, President El-Sisi devalued the Egyptian currency in 2016. He also launched a number of mega projects to revive the economy including $8.2 billion expansion of Swiss canal.

Overall, if you see President El-Sisi and his government has taken actions that were necessary to attract investment in Egypt, and help restore the economy. At the same time, he is also known to be an administrator with an iron grip and that is because of his military background which if you see is actually a rare leadership quality.

In 2017 President El-Sisi became the first Egyptian leader to visit the White House since the 2011 Revolution. He visited again in 2019. He also met the U.S president Donald Trump.

President Trump told him, “You are my favorite dictator”.

You may have your own opinion about Donald Trump, but the fact of the matter is President El-Sisi has been successful in maintaining order in Egypt.

He is not a king or a monarch and definitely not a dictator. He has been democratically elected plus he is an army man and a Field Marshal who knows exactly how to run his country with discipline rule of law and order.

He also seems to know few things about economy. At a time when radical Islamist Jihadis are on the rise, creating chaos and madness all across the world it is very rare to see such leadership quality, top of that, in a Muslim country.

This is precisely the reason why the government of India chose the Egyptian president to be the Chief Guest on Republic Day, and also invited the Egyptian Army contingent to march on Republic day.

It is going to send a message to all the nearby countries especially towards the western side of India. These are the type of languages and signaling in today’s diplomatic world.

Article extracted from Amit Sengupta’s YouTube video.

Sisi will be the first Egyptian head of state to attend India’s Republic Day on January 26 while on a three-day visit there. In order to revitalize bilateral ties, he held in-depth discussions with Modi, with security and economic cooperation emerging as essential cornerstones.

In a joint press conference with Sisi, Modi stated that the two leaders agreed that taking meaningful action is necessary to put an end to cross-border terrorism since they both view it as the most severe security challenge facing humanity. He stated that information and intelligence sharing on terrorism will be a part of bilateral collaboration.

Sisi also stated that Egypt is interested in collaborating with India on defense and counterterrorism. He claimed that the state of the world economy and its effects on poor nations had come up during the negotiations. In order to increase tourism, Sisi has asked for more flights between the two nations.

Five agreements for collaboration in IT, cyber-security, cultural, youth issues, and broadcasting were signed by the two nations.

In terms of trade, Modi stated that the two parties had agreed to increase their annual bilateral trade to $12 billion over the following five years.

Modi said, “We have decided that under the India-Egypt strategic partnership, we will develop a long-term framework for comprehensive cooperation in political, security, economic and scientific fields”.

He continued, “The two sides also decided to increase collaboration between the Egyptian and Indian defense industry”.

Sisi said, “We discussed regional and global issues of mutual interests…We also deliberated on bilateral defence cooperation”.

Sisi agreed with Modi’s stance on terrorism and emphasized the need for international cooperation in combating the issue. “We have similar views on dealing with terrorism and extremism”, Sisi said.

The 68-year-old former general turned politician previously traveled to India in October 2015 to take part in the third summit of the India-Africa Forum.

The Egyptian President’s invitation to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations as the primary guest is a first. The Republic Day parade will also feature a military contingent from the Egyptian Army.

After concentrating on other players in West Asia in recent years, India is eager to rekindle its relationship with Egypt. Both nations were founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement and have had a close relationship since the 1950s. In order to access markets in Africa and Europe, India is also considering using Egypt as a hub.

As such, El-Sisi, like Muhammad Ali, served as the country’s unifier, using the state’s strong hand to bring stability and end turmoil.

Egypt was destined to be ruled by a stranger of Albanian descent in the early nineteenth century: Muhammad Ali Pasha. He came to power in the midst of a complicated political landscape marked by internal strife, instability, and a lack of a well-established order. Muhammad Ali took over in 1805 and worked to keep the country together, ushering in a massive modernization project that moved the country from the clutches of medieval age into modernity.

This has been true for over two centuries. Except for Jamal Abdel-Nasser, no charismatic or powerful leader has emerged on the scene and done what Muhammad Ali did (Nasser). However, the latter’s legacy was mixed. He oversaw a massive modernization project similar to Muhammad Ali’s after the last ruler of his dynasty (King Farouk) was deposed by the military takeover of the Free Officers in 1952, but his reign was marred by a devastating military defeat at the hands of Israel in the Six Day War.

As a result, Nasser should not be compared to Muhammad Ali because he is the political and ideological polar opposite of him. 

Fortunately, there is another figure that can be compared to Muhammad Ali. He, too, is a senior military officer. But, unlike him, he does not have a mixed legacy. But why should El-Sisi be compared to Muhammad Ali?

Simply put, the two leaders share similarities in terms of the circumstances that brought each of them to power; the nature and fate of their adversaries; the modernization drive they embarked on after taking power; and, most importantly, defeating the Turks. 

As for the circumstances that pushed Muhammad Ali to the throne, they were similar to those of El-Sisi. Power vacuum and instability caused by the dispute between the Mamluk rulers and the Ottomans generated a need for a strong hand that holds the country together. 

After the withdrawal of the French forces from Egypt in 1801, Mamluk power had been weakened but not destroyed, and Ottoman forces competed for power with the Mamluks. Muhammad Ali used his loyal Albanian troops to work with both sides during this period of turmoil, gaining power and prestige for himself. The local populace grew tired of the power struggle as the conflict progressed. In 1801, he formed an alliance with Egyptian ruler Umar Makram and Egypt’s Grand Imam of al-Azhar. During the infighting between the Ottomans and the Mamluks between 1801 and 1805, Muhammad Ali took care to gain public support.

In 1805, a group of prominent Egyptians led by the ulama (scholars, savants) demanded that Wli (viceroy) Ahmad Khurshid Pasha be replaced by Muhammad Ali, and the Ottomans agreed. As such, there was a ruler who emerged in the midst of a tumultuous landscape, stepping in as a savior for a nation looking for a powerful leader that could bring it back on track after years of internal and external disputes and fragmentation. 

Similarly, El-Sisi served in the same capacity. In 2013, he led a military takeover of power in response to massive nationwide protests calling for an end to a similar situation fraught with failure, instability, conflict, and popular discontent. El-Sisi has succeeded, and his predecessor, the Muslim Brotherhood’s late president Mohammed Morsi, has been deposed. As such, El-Sisi, like Muhammad Ali, served as the country’s unifier, using the state’s strong hand to bring stability and end turmoil.

Not only did Muhammad Ali end the turmoil and bring the country together, but he also began modernization throughout the country, ushering in a new era in the country’s history and breaking with a backward past totally detached from genuine modernity of the West. Ali launched a modernization campaign, beginning with his military. He enlisted Egyptian peasants, hired European advisers, and purchased modern weapons. He was effectively an independent ruler of a stronger, more modern Egypt by 1831. Ali encouraged Egypt to increase its cotton production.

Most Egyptian peasants’ lives were altered as a result of this. They were used to working for the majority of the year to grow food, but they always got to rest in the winter. After the 1810s, men, women, and children continued to work to grow food in the summer and fall, only to be forced into cotton production in the winter.

Using the proceeds from cotton production, Ali’s government began to fund factories, allowing Egypt to profit from its own industrialization. These factories made cotton clothing, beginning with uniforms for the new military, but they also made foods and other items. By the late 1840s, Egypt appeared poised to become an industrial power. Hence, Muhammad Ali succeeded in turning Egypt, though temporarily, into a military and industrial powerhouse.

Many textile and sugar factories, as well as metallurgical industries and other major industrial projects, were established during the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha. He even had his own flagship projects such as El Qanater El Khayreya (Lit. Benevolent Bridges), a massive irrigation project across the Nile. 

Likewise, El-Sisi has left his mark on Egypt’s infrastructure. El-Sisi and his government have launched massive projects in nearly every nook and cranny of Egypt since taking office in 2014. A massive but modern network of roads and bridges has been established, nearly changing the face of the country. New cities have been built, and Egypt’s notorious shantytowns have been eradicated.

The New Administrative Capital is unquestionably the crowning achievement of these projects. El-Sisi stated on January 16, 2022, that Egypt spent between $400 billion and $500 billion in the previous seven years to build development infrastructure.

Another similarity between Muhammad Ali Pasha and El-Sisi is that both of them have overpowered the Turks. Muhammad Ali had defeated the Turks militarily. Egyptian forces led by Muammad Al’s son Ibrahim decisively defeated the Ottoman army at Nizip, and the Ottoman fleet surrendered at Alexandria. There has been no military confrontation between Egypt’s Sisi and Turkey’s Erdoğan.

Nonetheless, the two countries were ideologically opposed, with Turkey objecting to El-Sisi’s election. Erdoğan repeatedly stated at the start of El-Sisi’s presidency that he would not shake hands with him. He even launched a tirade against El-Sisi, making disparaging remarks. Erdoğan, however, shook hands with Sisi at the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, reversing all of his previous remarks and threats.

In this sense, Egypt’s El-Sisi deserves to be referred to as Egypt’s Mohammed Ali II. He came to power under similar circumstances, faced rivals with similar mindsets, launched a modernization drive that changed the course of the country’s history, and—after what happened at the World Cup opening ceremony—forced the Turks to submit to his will and take a step—and possibly steps—back.

Mostapha Hassan Abdelwahab is the former editorial manager of the English edition of the Baghdad Post. He is focusing on Iraq, Iran and political Islam movements, with articles posted on the Herald Report, Vocal Europe, the Greater Middle East and other platforms.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.

Erdogan turned his country from a financial, tourist and industrial center into a tottering state of which the currency is melting under the weight of the dollar.

The political and economic experiments of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Turkish President Recep Erdogan deserve to be contemplated. The two states share certain similarities and characteristic features – both are overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and both are considered as a gateway to Europe: Turkey to Asia, and Egypt to Africa. Their populations are large in numbers. The professional working class in the two countries is skilled and diverse and they have an old economic structure with a rich legacy. The major difference is that the star of Egypt is rising politically and economically while the star of Turkey is at a low ebb.

Sisi began his experiment to build the second Egyptian Republic since 2013, and for two consecutive years he had been in the efforts of extinguishing the fires that the terrorist Brotherhood had set on the Egyptian fabric with the aim of liquidating and re-occupying Egypt through terrorism, bombings and bloodshed.

But the terrorists’ acts were not enough to deter Sisi from going ahead with his determination to fight the most difficult battle, which was undoubtedly the economic battle in a country that lacked stable resources but having only limited oil and gas reserves. He assumed office in a country featuring a crumbling infrastructure; rising migration of people to cities following their reluctance to live in the agricultural countryside; the erosion of the middle class; and a surge in the poverty rate, while the Suez Canal, which is the main source of hard currency, was barely functioning.

Sisi decided to float the Egyptian pound freely against the dollar. This is another story of ‘transit.’ There was only a possibility that Egypt could move from the bank of weakness to the bank of a strong state. It was a daring and risky decision, but it was the first path to economic salvage and transformation from a failed state to an economic tiger, and to proceed on a rugged path of reform that warranted major sacrifices, in a country that is well known for sacrifices to serve the national interests. Sisi and Egypt are ready to pay the bill for the return of Cairo to light up the East once again.

Sisi had not stopped at this point but rejuvenated the infrastructure, which all economists know is the fastest development path, the biggest employer for most companies and the greatest job generator.

In politics, Sisi moved to the safer zone where he safeguarded the Egyptian interests professionally and with surgical operations that were instrumental in opening roads in front of the Egyptian policy in Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia and Syria, and finally restoring the Egyptian role in the Palestinian file.

Erdogan, on the other hand, received a viable country for which the foundations were laid by his predecessors -Turgut Ozal, Suleyman Demirel and Ahmet Necdet, along with a popular desire that relied on broad ambitions from business sectors and manufacturers to join the European Union. This prompted the Turks to adopt the “Manifesto” of European success, which depends on the adoption of the administrative and legislative mechanism and the European quality system to have an access to the EU. This was undoubtedly the decision of the ruling class before him but it was Erdogan who reaped its fruits. However, this experiment was quickly subjected to liquidation, after it had been plagued since 2010 by Erdogan’s adventures and personal ambitions, and crazy romantic dreams to restore an empire that had ceased to exist and no more.

Erdogan had sent his armies and his mercenaries to northern Syria, Libya, Azerbaijan and Somalia. These were not free battles but they incurred huge bills, the price of which was paid by the Turkish people at the expense of their economy. Thus Erdogan turned his country from a financial, tourist and industrial center into a tottering state of which the currency is melting under the weight of the dollar, and that resulted in creating apathy on the part of investors and consequently there was a slump in the economy and tourism as well.

These are the two remarkable experiments, worthy of contemplation. How Sisi pulled his Egyptian state out of the clutches of terrorism, poverty and economic weakness, and how Erdogan squandered the gains of his country for which the Turks toiled for decades before he came to power.

Article first published on Saudi Gazette.

Dalia Ziada

Egyptian leadership will welcome the Qatari investments in its booming energy sector.

On December 13th, the oil giant “Royal Dutch Shell plc. (commonly known as Shell Company)” announced selling 17% of its project rights in oil and gas blocks in the Egyptian Red Sea, to Qatar Energy. After government approvals from both sides, this will be the first time ever Qatar make direct invests in the Egyptian oil sector. On one hand this indicates how strong the relationship between Egypt and Qatar has become, since the Gulf Reconciliation agreement in January. But most importantly, it refers to how strong the Egyptian economy, especially the energy sector, has become an attraction to giant oil investors from the Middle East region and beyond.

The Qatar Energy investments in the Egyptian Red Sea oil and gas explorations, will allow Qatar to acquire 17% stake in each of Block 3 and Block 4 operated by Shell Exploration & Production (93) B.V., which is a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc. Meanwhile, Shell, which owns 43% of Block 3 and 21% of Block 4, will remain the operator of both blocks. Another Gulf investor in the same project is the Emirati Mubadala Petroleum LLC., which owns 27% in Block 4. Besides, two Egyptian companies are investing in the project: BHP Petroleum (Egypt) Limited with 30% in Block 3 and 25% in Block 4, and the Egyptian Tharwa Petroleum S.A.E. with 10% in Block 3 and 10% in Block 4.

Shell sold the shares to Qatar Energy and the aforementioned investors based on a Farm Out Agreement (FOA), which is a type of contract which enables an existing project participant to add new parties to the project by selling a percentage stake in the venture. For the agreement to be put in effect, the Egyptian government and parliament must endorse the procedure. Given the positively developing relationship between Qatar and Egypt, it is highly likely that the Egyptian leadership will welcome the Qatari investments in its booming energy sector.

Since the signing of Al-Ula agreement, during the Gulf Summit, held in January, Egypt and Qatar have been determined to fix their torn relationship and build a fruitful cooperation, not only on fulfilling bilateral interests, but also on co-managing chronic regional troubles, such as the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Since the latest episode of war between Israel and Hamas, in May, Egypt and Qatar have been closely coordinating to reconstruct the Gaza strip and provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians living there. This level of cooperation between Egypt and Qatar was an impossibility, only a few months ago.

Unlike what most people believe, this is the first time ever Qatar Energy directly invests in the Egyptian ascending economic power of oil and natural gas. In the past, all Qatar investments in Egypt’s energy sector were channeled through the Arab Refining Company (ARC), and limited to one project that started in 2012, under the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, and was not completed until in 2019. To further explain; ARC is owned by private shareholders, including the Egyptian Citadel (Qala’a) Holdings and some Arab Gulf investors. One of the giant Gulf investors in ARC was the Qatari state-owned company “Qatar Petroleum,” which changed its name later to “Qatar Energy.” It owns 38.1% of the ARC shares. The Arab Refining Company owns 66.6% in the Egyptian Refining Company, which is an Egyptian state-owned company. That is why there were cooperation between Qatar Petroleum and the Egyptian Refining Company, in the past. But, again, it was not a direct investment in the Egyptian energy sector and was limited to only one project, which is not as huge as the current investments Qatar is currently seeking to make in the Egyptian Red Sea.

In addition to Qatar, Egypt’s relationship with Turkey is taking a new positive turn as the two sides started to make a fruitful use of the Mediterranean wealth of natural gas. According to data published by S&P Global Platts Analytics, in the period between October and December, Egypt shipped to Turkey seven cargos of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), extracted from Idku and Demietta plants, at Egypt’s shores in the Mediterranean. This is the first time Egypt provides Turkey with such high volume of LNG exports, despite its contracts with Greece and Cyprus, within the EastMed Gas Organization. In the past, similar exports from Egypt to Turkey were only limited to mineral oils and plastics.

Qatar investments in the Egyptian energy sector and Turkey’s growing dependence on Egypt for natural gas supply are indicators on the increasing strength of the Egyptian economy. In a recent report, the International Monetary Fund expected that Egypt, in 2022, will be the second largest economy in Africa, after Nigeria, and the second largest economy in Arab countries, after Saudi Arabia, with a record GDP that exceeds US$438 billion.

Keeping healthy and balanced relations with all its neighbors in the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and Africa is the real secret behind Egypt’s economic success, despite the pandemic that brought even the most established economies on its knees. It would be interesting to watch how Egypt can balance its economic relations with the Qatar-Turkey axis, with its existing relationships with other Gulf and Mediterranean actors.

Article first published on The Levant News.

Dalia Ziada

Muslim Brotherhood managed to gain political victory in parliament by playing on the religious piety of the poor and illiterate citizens in rural areas…

The Egyptian people are widely celebrating Egypt’s restoration of its regional status, after the recent successful mediation for ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Hamas, and President El-Sisi’s pledge to reconstruct Gaza. Meanwhile, the Egyptian state has been gearing up for an equally challenging mission, but on the domestic level. This mission is about renovating the rural areas and improving life conditions for citizens living in rural cities, which represent more than 80% of the inhabited Egyptian geographic area. This important project is expected to enhance Egypt’s overall political and economic structure. But, most importantly it will undermine the social and economic gaps, through which radicalism, religious extremism, and political Islamism has leaked into the Egyptian society.

Earlier this week, the Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and the Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, discussed the workflow of the rural development project. El-Sisi directed the Prime Minister to “harness all of the country’s resources and spare no effort to render such a project a success”. The project targets a total of 4,584 villages, with an estimated budget of 700 billion Egyptian Pounds (about 45 billion US dollars), to be invested in upgrading the infrastructure of water, gas, and power supplies, in addition to building underground sewage networks and improving road services.

If you have ever visited Egypt, you know that there is a gap in economic and social development between urban and rural cities. The situation is even worse in distant and small villages in Upper Egypt, where citizens, for decades, have been suffering from poverty, illiteracy, and lack of basic governmental services.

Since the time of Muhammad Ali Pasha monarchy (1805 – 1953), most of the government-led social and economic development projects had been focused in the capital city, Cairo, and the Mediterranean coastal city, Alexandria. During this era, Cairo was labeled as the hub for arts and culture in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. European people used to flee their war- torn countries and migrate to live in the peace and glamour of Cairo and Alexandria.

In a shocking contrast to this, the Egyptians living in rural areas were declined their basic rights to live as equal citizens, with equal access to education and opportunities. They were mostly treated like slaves serving in the farms owned by the wealthy feudal lords, who were politically close to the monarchy. This huge gap between Cairo and the other rural governorates, in the regions of Delta and Upper Egypt, enabled the appearance of radical political Islamist organizations, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, which started its mission in the eastern city of Ismailia and slowly moved to other rural cities in the Delta until it became strong enough to challenge and threaten the lives of the ruling political elite in secular Cairo.

After, the Free Officers Revolution, in 1952, which ended the monarchy and established Egypt as an independent Arab republic, the situation of rural citizens changed a lot. The then President Gamal Abdel Nasser, with a communist mindset, built his legacy around empowering the poor citizens, especially the farmers living in rural areas. Actually, he took the farms of the feudal lords and gave it to the farmers who had been serving in them, under the monarchy.

Despite the euphoria this move created among the poor, at the beginning of his era, Nasser failed to provide the appropriate citizen education and infrastructure development that could have had empowered the farmers to benefit from their newly acquired farming wealth. As a result, many of those farmers sold their pieces of land for houses construction contractors, and then moved with the money to live in Cairo.

During Sadat and Mubarak era, which extended for about four decades, the rural cities became in a worse condition. Most of the governmental infrastructure and development projects focused on Cairo. Meanwhile, most of the farmers went on selling the farms given to them by Nasser and most of the youth in rural cities sought after illegal immigration to Europe via the Mediterranean. This created a huge and dangerous gap, through which radical Islamists intervened to radicalize the poor and illiterate citizens and recruit the youth suffering poverty, lack of education, and unemployment in villages far from the capital city.

In the 1990s, violent Islamist organizations, like Al-jamaa Al-Islamiya (The Islamic Group), established an empire of its own among the poor villages of Upper Egypt. Towards the end of Mubarak era, the Muslim Brotherhood managed to gain political victory in parliament by playing on the religious piety of the poor and illiterate citizens in rural areas, and also by providing them with basic health and food services that the government failed to provide, at that time.

In light of this history, El-Sisi’s national project for developing the infrastructure and citizen well-being in rural cities, derives its importance. The success of this massive project is expected to bring a lot of benefits to the economic well-being of Egypt, on the long-term. It will rebalance the demographic distribution between the urban and rural cities. Less people will desire to leave their rural cities and internally migrate to Cairo or internationally migrate to Europe, searching for better life conditions and work opportunities.

However, the most important, yet undeclared, outcome of this important national project is to fight against the religious extremists and terrorist organizations, who found a fertile soil for their radical ideology among the needs and despairs of the young people living in those less-developed and under-constructed rural villages. This simply means a more secure future for Egypt, if not for the whole Middle East and the Mediterranean regions.

Piece first published in Sada El Bilad.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.

Agnes Callamard is known for her hostility towards Saudi Arabia and her silence regarding Iran and Turkey.

In this report, I will describe some of the most famous human rights organizations, their political backgrounds, financiers and goals. On closer inspection, you will find that all of them, whether it is Human Right Watch, Amnesty International, etc., are organizations that are close to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Human Rights Watch can be considered a highly suspicious institution, that has submitted to the orders from Qatar and Turkey, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Doha funds many human rights organizations and reports, that just serve to target certain countries. But not only Doha, George Soros is another sponsor of these organizations.

Amnesty International is also not a neutral and impartial organization, because of its known political and ideological interests, that go beyond any correctness and credibility. Amnesty International receives respectable financial donations, and this seems to be enough to give it sacred legitimacy. What is also interesting about Amnesty International is, that its funding streams are used by employees and former directors-general for personal purposes. Irene Khan, who received financial compensation of 600 million euros when she left the organization, that defends the interests of the world’s poor, leaves questions unanswered.

Susan Nossel, the director of Amnesty International, was the chief assistant to Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State and advocate of the so-called “Smart Power Policy”. She previously worked for the US Institute for Foreign Relations, one of the official interfaces for American intelligence services.

One of the best known financiers of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, is George Soros. He also controls the values ​​of Europe through the highest European judicial authority. Due to his influence, many European countries were forced to change their laws in order to implement an open society without borders. George Soros tries to put an end to the idea of ​​closed nations, and to enforce an open society without borders. Anyone who regards his ideas, and ignited revolutions as inhuman is considered an anti-Semite, and is classified in the category of fascists.

Many heads of state are of the opinion that George Soros, with his Open Org Society and countless NGOs, aims to destroy the world. His biggest critics include: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Victor Orban and Benjamin Netanyahu. Most of the judges at the European Court of Human Rights belong to NGOs that are funded by the Open Society.

So what has George Soros got to do with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia?

George Soros, who supports the extreme left in Europe and America, also appears as an obvious sponsor of Antifa, makes no secret of promoting the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood. Wasn’t it he, who awarded the Tunisian Muslim brother Ghannouchi the Peace Prize? It is also confirmed, that he supports Muslim Brotherhood networks in Europe with financial grants.

As everyone knows, the Muslim Brotherhood sparked revolutions, bloody civil wars and the so-called Arab Spring, a movement that, under the guise of humanity, served Soros and his Open Society Foundation, as it drove millions of people out of their countries were then received by Ms. Merkel in Germany with open arms, which earned her the nickname – “Mutti”.

Now to Sarah Lea Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN and Human Rights Watch division in the Middle East. She was the first to spread rumors about the causes of Morsi’s death, and has a close relationship with Bin Jassim, a member of the Royal Family in Qatar. She has been interviewed on Muslim Brotherhood channels such as Aljazeera and Makmalin, and announced that her organization would campaign for the release of Muslim Brotherhood leaders.

The woman who holds a key leadership position at Human Right Watch is the group’s first defender of terrorism, and her main focus right now is publicly denouncing Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. It has been shown to be particularly supported by the American Democratic Party, which has close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. According to the media reports, Sarah Lee Watson received $ 100,000 for three reports, the last of which was about incitement to Egypt. Because of its ties with Qatar, HRW’s Middle East division has never condemned human rights abuses against foreign migrant workers in Qatar.

Hamad bin Jassim provided this woman with false reports of allegations, that Iraq and Syria possessed weapons of mass destruction. Her connection to the Muslim Brotherhood goes back to the time of the former President Hosni Mubarak, where she appeared constantly on the Aljazeera Network to polish up the image of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Now we come to Agnes Callamard, she worked for Amnesty International from 1998 to 2001, then as executive director for the human rights organization ARTICLE-19. She is currently director of the Global Freedom of Expression project at Columbia University, and special rapporteur for extrajudicial executions, and sits on the Human Rights Council the United Nations. Agnes Callamard is known for her hostility towards Saudi Arabia and her silence regarding Iran and Turkey.

In 2013, human rights defender, Agnes Callamard wrote a special report calling on the Egyptian military to lift bans on five Egyptian satellite channels and other people affiliated with Hamas and jihadist Islamic parties. She considered closing channels of the Muslim Brotherhood, because they were necessary for so-called democratic discourse as a violation of freedom of expression.

Agnes Callamard also attended a meeting of the United Nations Human Council in September 2010 with Tariq Ramadan, the grandson of Al-Banna, who was convicted of rape and sexual assault of minors in France. She called several times on the United Nations to work for the release of members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Before starting the investigation into the murder of Khashoggi, she worked with a number of international organizations and associations, to politicize the Khashoggi case as part of the campaign against Saudi Arabia. She ignored in her reports that Khashoggi’s article in the Washington Post was proven to have been directed and written by the Qatar Foundation International, and the American “Maggie Salem”, the foundation’s executive director. Agnes also aimed to use human rights reports on behalf of private human rights organizations to attack the Arab coalition and legitimacy in Yemen.

It accused both Saudi Arabia and the United Emirates of targeting civilians and ignored all human rights reports regarding the terrorist activities of the Houthis, who carried out countless extrajudicial executions in Yemen, and committed and continue to commit many human rights abuses that are simply overlooked. At the same time, Agnes is under criticism for her silence regarding the massive arrests of opposition activists and journalists in Turkey, which she also does not criticize. Your report on Khashoggi and the CIA report contain no evidence of the involvement of Mohammed bin Salman, but the wording in the international media gave the impression that, Mohammed bin Salman had commissioned the murder, or the report had proven it.

This extremely dubious 1-page report contains nothing, but assumptions and assessments, and ultimately even the human rights organizations and Ms. Callamard were disappointed that no direct evidence was found.

Muslim Brotherhood and Clinton Emails

As emerged from the Clinton emails, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supported the Muslim Brotherhood during the Arab Spring both financially, ideologically and with weapons, to carry out bloody revolutions in various countries. The result was countless cities and infrastructures destroyed, 1.4 million injured and dead, 22 million refugees and over 100 million unemployed. Syria, Yemen, Tunisia, Lebanon, Libya and Egypt were particularly hard hit.

In 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood was successfully overthrown in Egypt and banned as a terrorist organization.

The Brotherhood was founded in 1928 in Egypt by Hassan Al Bannah, the British and the Freemasons, to help build the Islamic Caliphate worldwide. In fact, he went so far as to express his willingness to declare war on “any leader, party and organization” who fail to implement the Brotherhood’s programs.

In the 1940s, the Brotherhood’s “secret apparatus”, a paramilitary unit established by El-Banna, carried out serious acts of political violence. Those murdered included a prominent judge, the Cairo police chief and the Egyptian prime minister. In 1954 they tried to assassinate President Gamal Nasser.
Even after it was disbanded in December 1948, the Brotherhood turned to more violence, militarization and clandestine action. It remained in the grip of the secret apparatus for decades and encompassed the jihadist philosophy led by El-Banna and promoted by his student Sayyid Qutb.

Brotherhood splinter groups such as al-Takfir wal Hijra murdered thinkers who publicly criticized the group’s radical ideology. Tanzim Al-Jihad, founded by Al-Qaeda’s second husband, Ayman Al-Zawahri — a member of the Brotherhood, assassinated President Anwar el-Sadat in 1981 after signing a peace treaty with Israel. These and other groups affiliated with the Brotherhood have also carried out terrorist attacks against tourists and religious minorities.

The Brotherhood also maintains links with terrorist organizations established by leaders within their “international network” outside Egypt. According to the report from 9 Bedford Row, Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Aballah Yusuf Azzam, the three founders of al-Qaeda, were prominent members of the “international network”.

As in Egypt, the Saudi King Abdullah banned the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization in 2014, as did the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Syria and Russia.

The highest Islamic scholars of Saudi Arabia have officially justified and confirmed this decision again in 2020, pointing out that the Muslim Brotherhood does not reflect Islamic values, but only promotes riot, violence and terrorism.

What has the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been and still is diligently supported by the West, achieved in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Sudan besides civil wars, devastation and the emergence of ISIS?

Is it really only supported by the West to bring so-called “democracy” to these Islamic countries? Isn’t there a bigger, less “benevolent” concept behind this?

Anna Sacher is an Austria-based Independent Political Analyst and Commentator. She often writes for Millichronicle. She tweets under @RealthingUlli.

Waleed Alghamdi is a Saudi-based researcher and analyst. He writes about Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist factions. He tweets under @nofr2021.

The minister said that, “What we are facing is a challenge of a neo-Ottoman state which tries to impose its will upon its neighbors, with violence if needed”.

“We see Turkey transfer mercenaries to Syria, to Libya, to the Southern Caucasus, terrorist mercenaries, a huge danger for the public order of all countries of the region,” he added.

Dendias believes that Turkey is attempting to overwrite the rules in the overall region of the Mediterranean.

“Turkey is trying to undermine President el-Sisi’s government in Egypt; Turkey is present wherever there is trouble. Turkey has invaded Syria and Iraq”, the Minister said. “Sometimes the EU has allowed Turkey to arrive at the wrong conclusions, and that is not good for Turkey, not good for the union, not good for the Turkish society, and it is not good for the peace and stability in the Mediterranean and generally in the region”.

“For many, a country [Germany] dedicated to peace should not sell weapons to a country [Turkey] threatening peace and stability and threatening EU members”, he added.

In the conclusion he said, “We cannot even perceive that Germany would allow a country to threaten Greece; Germany would not allow a country that threatens EU members with war to possess attack weapons that can change the overall balance in the region”.

According to the report, the Governor of the Tabuk region Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud along with several minister and senior officials was present in the ceremony.

Sisi and Prince Fahd had a tour of the university, where they were briefed about the university’s construction process.

KSU is one of the major projects funded by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with an aim to develop the Sinai Peninsula.

The university has top-class 15 faculties distributed among its three branches in El-Tor, Ras Sedr, and Sharm El-Sheikh. And it can accommodate over all 30,000 students.

Vision of KSU

University’s website boasts about its vision as, “To be a smart, pioneering university in teaching, learning, scientific research and community service locally, regionally and globally. The University will achieve quality, excellence and promotion and will be a catalyst for sustainable economic and social development”.

Mission of KSU

The University provides outstanding professional and academic programs to prepare qualified human resources who meet the needs of the local, regional and international labor market.

The University encourages innovation and creativity and carries out applied scientific research through effective partnership with outstanding international universities and labor market institutions to provide local and international training and employment opportunities for its graduates.

The University spreads knowledge to meet the needs of the society and sustainable development plans and links the same with industry in a flexible framework that allows continuous improvement and preserves societal values and ethics while keeping pace with scientific and technological development.