Italy views it as the "mission of the century" at a time when Egypt remains silent about it, despite the question marks raised around it. It is the anticipated military deal between Cairo and Rome months ago.
And the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" revealed two days ago that the government of Giuseppe Conte will soon approve the largest military deal with Egypt, at a time when the Egyptian treasury is suffering for many reasons, most recently the repercussions of the Corona virus.
According to the newspaper, the deal includes 24 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, 24 Airmake M-346 light combat and advanced training helicopters, AW149 helicopters, as well as a reconnaissance and radar imaging boat, and 20 Falaj II armed boats to patrol.
And talk about the largest deal in the history of the two countries dates back to early February, amid speculation that the value of the deal will exceed 9 billion dollars, and there has been no official talk about the deal from the Egyptian side.
"La Repubblica" quoted a source headed by the Italian Prime Minister, saying that this deal is considered "the mission of the century" because of the political, commercial and industrial values it represents, despite the presence of many difficulties and obstacles, on top of which is the case of the murder of the Italian student Regini in Egypt several years ago.
But far from settling the "Regene" issue, which many see as one of the most important motives of the Egyptian side, the deal raised many questions about military spending on purchasing weapons instead of directing this spending on health and education, as well as the goal of amassing arms in light of the excellent relations that Egypt is gathering with Israel for the time being, and others have questioned what may be the undisclosed reasons behind the deal.
Among those reasons, some talk about the huge commissions earned by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and senior military leaders, as well as trying to attract the current Italian government, opposed to the movements of the camp of Egypt, the Emirates, France and Russia in Libya.
Brokerage and mediation
, Osama Suleiman, a member of the former National Assembly’s Defense and Security Committee, sees that “Sisi does not stock as much as he trades in weapons, but rather smuggles him,” adding, “It is well known in the Egyptian armed forces that there is a standardized percentage of these deals for the leaders of the army, and the president of the republic as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. "
In his interview with Al-Jazeera, Suleiman continued, "In case Italy accepts the arms deal for Egypt, he confirms that Sisi has turned into a arms dealer and broker in his regional surroundings, and the deal is in line with the situation in Libya for the ease of smuggling it by land away from international monitoring," noting that it is "UAE-led arms deals with approval." France and Russia. "
The opposition Egyptian politician pointed out that the other point in this deal is to revive the course of Egyptian-Italian relations after their deterioration as a result of the "Regeni" killing and the Libyan attraction of the Egyptian-Emirati axis.
He concluded by saying, "It should be noted that as long as Sisi is at the head of the government, he will continue to search for international legitimacy until the last minute, especially that the human rights file is the black box for the violations of the Sisi regime, which is his weakness outside, but it will remain a strong outlet for the Israeli-American agenda."
Non-professional deals for
his part, Egyptian economist and Egyptian American businessman Mohamed Rizk believes that Italy is not known to be a country that manufactures and exports arms, as its sales of arms did not exceed 600 million euros in 2018, and this is a modest number in the arms market, where the price of one of the aircraft Produced by America from 80 to 200 million dollars.
It is worth noting that, according to the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research (SIPRI), Italy's sales amounted to 2.3% of the arms trade volume globally in the period from 2014 to 2018.
The economist attributed the Egyptian regime's generous spending on arms purchases to the huge commissions' volume behind these deals, adding, "There is unfortunately a law in Egypt that gives the President of the Republic currencies of arms purchase deals of up to 2.5% of the value of the deal, this is unlike the commissions that are paid under the table." According to his talk to Al-Jazeera Net.
But he pointed out that the arms deals that Sisi is holding are similar to involvement, as happened in the deal of the helicopter carriers "Mistral", which was described as exorbitant on the one hand, and not suitable for the Egyptian navy on the other hand because it was manufactured specifically for Russia, and instead of seizing the opportunity and obtaining a low price, Sisi paid a higher price without having the planes for which the two carriers were made.
In principle, all Egyptian arms deals are done through loans - there is no financial liquidity at all
If there was a problem in the political situation or in relations with countries de France or Italy, arms deals that were signed earlier, if not, would have been approved by the foundation, if our political position and mutual relations are weak https://t.co/7wjgvKUNwP
- Mahmoud Gamal (@ mahmouedgamal44) May 30, 2020
Necessary deals
on the other side, the researcher in the Egyptian military affairs, Mahmoud Gamal, explained that all Egyptian arms deals are done through loans, so it does not require the existence of financial liquidity with the government.
In a series of tweets, Jamal explained that these deals are not the result of the moment, and that most of them were negotiated in parallel with the completion of defensive deals with the French side, before they were stopped due to the issue of Regeni's killing.
The researcher defended the continuation of the Sisi regime in arms deals, claiming the development and modernization of the armed forces, "which was miserable at the level of all branches and units before 2014, and what required the completion of arms deals quickly."
Criticism and questions the
opinion of the military researcher came in contrast to the pioneers of social networking sites, where some criticized the Sisi regime's interest in arms deals at the expense of the economy, and some questioned the secret of the timing of the treasury's suffering due to the negative economic repercussions of the Corona virus.
One of the most asked questions posed by the pioneers of communication sites was about the sources of financing these billion deals, at a time when the authorities repeat that they do not have sufficient liquidity to spend on health and education or face unemployment.
Others have called for the exploitation of those billions in establishing factories for weapons and military industries, instead of spending them on the continued import of Western weapons.
Despite what Egypt suffers economically, the page on Rifini Sisi will buy weapons from Italy for 10 billion dollars, and Italy considers it the deal of the century !!
- Nahlah (@ 2_bee22) June 2, 2020
But why all this weapon in a short period like this? Where's the money? Is it really a good step to diversify the sources of the air force to four countries (France, Italy, Russia, America)? A range of O&M costs.
Is Egypt really on the verge of war?
- Bashar97 (@ VulgarPanda88) May 30, 2020
Away from his commissions, the sum is why I do not thirst in one item in Egypt itself, by imagining that it is possible for a weapon company from the ground to start, opening to people that it participates in the manufacture of weapons if it dies on them very much, especially since I understood the numbers of the other countries because of some support or Interests, but Italy? Very minor thinking https://t.co/XGeEr7PfYM
- Abdoelrhman (@yoloAbdo) June 3, 2020
At the height of the Corona crisis, all the countries of the world, without exception, are grappling with the production of a cure for the virus except (Egypt)
struggling to satisfy Italy with a $ 10 billion arms deal in order to overlook the Rogini killing.
Sognen's question?
Who say donate and who will bring billions to arms.
We have a People's Assembly asking the government
- Einstein (@ AborahmaAborah3) June 2, 2020
Imagine that Egypt is now negotiating with Italy to purchase a weapon equivalent to 9,8 billion d.
A weapon in light of the accumulation of external and internal debt, the increase in poverty and the decline in education, health and transportation services !!
Was it originally useful for Rafale, aircraft carriers and submarines?
It is very disappointing, with 1% of employees and 05% of pensioners deducted
- Sadek Neaimi (@Sadekneaimi) May 21, 2020