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Commandos from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Greece and Cyprus have gathered at an Egyptian military base near the Mediterranean coast for military exercises, an Egyptian military spokesman said on Sunday.
Col Gharib Abdel Hafez Gharib wrote on Facebook that observers from the United States, Jordan, Bahrain and the Democratic Republic of Congo were participating in the exercise.
The exercise, code-named Hercules-2, took place at the Mohammed Naguib base in northern Egypt.
They are described as “continuing to develop and strengthen military relations between Egypt and fraternal and friendly countries”.
Under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt has made joint military exercises between Arab and Western armies a cornerstone of its plans to modernize and upgrade its armed forces.
A former army general, the Egyptian leader has been procuring cutting-edge weapons from countries as far away as Russia, France, Italy and Germany since taking office in 2014.
Since the late 1970s, Egypt has acquired weapons from the United States under a military aid program that is now worth $1.3 billion a year. It acquired American-made fighter jets, tanks, air-to-air missiles, gunships, warships and artillery.
The frequent participation of Greece and Cyprus in military exercises with Egypt underscores the close ties forged between the three countries and their shared interest in protecting gas fields and facilities located in the eastern Mediterranean.
They want to join Israel, Lebanon, France and Italy in turning the region into a major energy hub and a permanent major supplier to Western Europe.
Updated: August 21, 2022 at 7:04pm
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