Reuters/Cairo
Egypt has no plans to provide the United States with direct military assistance in its war against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria even though American aerial bombardment may not be enough to defeat the group, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said.
But Mehleb left open the possibility of military action if Cairo’s Gulf Arab allies are threatened by the Al Qaeda offshoot.
With one of the biggest armies in the Middle East and wide experience in battling militancy, Egypt is regarded as a vital ally for the United States, which provides billions of dollars in annual aid to Cairo.
Mehleb said Egypt’s priority is ensuring stability at home, where security officials face resilient Islamist insurgents based in the Sinai Peninsula and regard militants in neighbouring Libya as a serious threat.
“For the Egyptian army the most important thing is its borders and the stability of its country and the protection of its country,” Mehleb told Reuters in an interview.
He spoke hours after a bomb killed six Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai.
The peninsula is the epicentre of an insurgency that has killed hundreds of Egyptian security forces since the army toppled president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood last year after mass protests against his rule.
But Mehleb appeared more flexible on the issue of Egyptian intervention when it comes to the security of Gulf Arab allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Those countries have pumped billions of dollars in aid and petroleum products into Egypt since then army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Mursi in July 2013 and then mounted one of the toughest crackdowns on Islamists.
Mehleb stressed that Egypt never wants to interfere in the affairs of other states. But he went on to say:
“The security of the Gulf is the security of Egypt and Egypt’s security is the Gulf’s security.”
Asked if the country would be willing to step in if Saudi Arabia and the UAE tell Cairo that Islamic State has emerged as a threat to their security, Mehleb said: “We will cross that bridge when we get there.”
The United States is seeking more help in its fights against Islamic State, which has seized parts of Iraq and Syria and has threatened to redraw the map of the Middle East.
US Secretary of State John Kerry made several visits to Egypt in recent months, hoping it would weigh in.
Asked to assess whether the United States would have to escalate beyond air strikes to defeat Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Mehleb was cautious.
He noted that it was vital to improve the performance of Iraq’s army, which virtually collapsed when Islamic State swept through northern Iraq in June.
“Let’s wait. The aerial intervention and the presence of the Iraqi army on the ground without doubt will have an impact, a positive impact in containing terrorism. The situation is difficult,” said Mehleb.
Kurds watch from the southeastern Turkish village of Mursitpinar as smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobane following an explosion yesterday.
