Reuters reported on Wednesday that the U.S. will be delivering ten Apache helicopters to Egypt, conveying a statement from the Pentagon explaining that the decision had already been passed along to Cairo by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel: US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel informed his Egyptian counterpart of the decision, which...

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Ajnad Misr, which announced its formation in January, said it was behind the April 18 bombing in Cairo that killed one police officer and wounded another. The group formally announced itself in January saying it would target “criminal elements” in the military-backed government. It has claimed at least six attacks...

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Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Wednesday declared that he will run in the country’s next presidential election, formally launching what is widely expected to be an easy glide into the presidency for the politically Teflon figure but potentially complicating Cairo’s future relationship with the Obama administration. A transcript of the resignation speech was provided by the...

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Arab League officials over the weekend predicted that the bloc’s upcoming meeting in Kuwait will revolve around “rifts” dividing the Arab world, with both international wires and regional outlets using the phrase. Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy gave comments on Monday that – even under interpretations that have the various...

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Veteran Israeli national security correspondent Yaakov Lappin this week conveyed what he described as “recent Israeli intelligence assessments” concluding that Hamas is steadily moving to reinvigorate its strained relationship with Iran, amid broader signals that the Palestinian terror group is desperate to halt what has become its worst economic crisis in roughly a decade....

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Israeli officials are urging the United States to release ten Apache helicopters for sale to the Egyptian army. A high-ranking official in Jerusalem said Israel clarified that supplying the helicopters is crucial to Egypt’s fight Against jihadist organizations in the Sinai, and will improve regional security. Collaboration on security between...

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Reports in Hebrew- and English-language Israeli media outlets on Tuesday conveyed quotes accusing the White House of blocking the sale of 10 Apache helicopters to Cairo. An Egypt military source said to the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that the White House is impeding an arms deal between US and Egypt according to which the US...

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Former Lebanese President Amine Gemayel has issued a stark warning about the fate of Christians in the Middle East, endangered by what he called “the rise of religious extremists.” Speaking last week at an event sponsored by Christian Solidarity International (CSI), Gemayel, who is himself Maronite Catholic, called on the international community...

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Veteran Jordan-based journalist Osama Al Sharif assessed on Tuesday that Jordan was unlikely to follow the lead of Egypt and some Gulf states in branding the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, not because the Islamist group is supported by Amman – Sharif noted that Jordan’s current ruler King Abdullah II is even “less sympathetic to [the Brotherhood’s...

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Middle East Institute Scholar Mohamed Elmenshawy on Tuesday published an extensive analysis of the psychological and geopolitical role played by the Egyptian army in the Arab world, amid increasing coverage and analysis in the Arab world regarding President Barack Obama’s potentially pivotal upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia. Obama will soon go to...

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