Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Pentagon plans to send four F-16s to Egypt

(July 10, 2013, (Al Arabia))--The United States will go through with the delivery of four F-16 fighter jets to Egypt in the coming weeks, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday as Washington deliberated whether to call the ouster of Egypt’s elected leader a military coup.



A decision to call last week’s overthrow of Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi a coup would, by law, require the Obama administration to halt aid to the Egyptian army. Egypt is the second-largest recipient of U.S. aid behind Israel, receiving $1.5 billion a year. The jets were part of that aid package, a U.S. defense official confirmed.

One defense official said the delivery of the four F-16s was likely to take place in August. “There is no current change in the plan to deliver F-16s to the Egyptian military,” a second U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. Islamists who back Mursi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, blame the United States for allowing what they call a military coup.

The country’s military and interim political leaders say Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood incited violence when Egyptians took to the streets to protest the president’s policies. The White House also pointed out that millions of Egyptians had wanted a change in government and said it would wait before deciding how to describe Mursi’s ouster. Read more from Al Arabia »

Related topics:
Ethiopia Negotiating to Buy 18 Su-30Ks Fighter Jets  
Ethiopia to boost defense spending amid tensions with Egypt over Nile dam development (The Washington post)
The water war between Egypt and Ethiopia (Press TV)
Egyptian warning over Ethiopia Nile dam "all options are open" (BBC)
No One Will Stop Nile Dam Project' : Ethiopian Prime Minster 
Inside Story- Death on the Nile (AlJazeera English Video)

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