EGYPT INAUGURATES NEW NAVAL BASE CLOSE TO LIBYAN BORDER, IS PRESIDENT SISI SENDING MESSAGE TO RIVALS?
A government statement stated Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the country's largest naval base. As the country boosts its naval presence on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, the ‘Third of July' base hopes to protect strategic and economic interests with the added benefit of helping combat smuggling and illegal immigration. The ‘Third of July' base, is named as such to mark the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi back in 2013.
The guests witnessed military maneuvers including firing missiles, parachute jumps and an amphibious landing. Later at a private event, talk ensured about the Ethiopian hydropower dam, which Egypt sees as a potential threat to its water supply. The United Nations Security Council is to reconvene sometime this week to discuss the dispute between Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt. The base lies some 255 kilometers west of Alexandria, towards the border of Libya. The border became a key security risk for Egypt even after beefing up security in the area, Libya slid into turmoil. As conflicts escalated in Libya after 2014, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates backed the Eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar, who was conspicuously absent from the ceremony. In reference to the maritime rights in the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean, Turkey backed Haftar's rivals in Libya and therefore Egypt has experienced some tension with Turkey too.
Analysts noted that President Sisi did not in fact take this naval base opening as an opportunity to send a warning to Turkey. Turkey keeps troops and mercenaries in Libya. It is reported that Egypt have chosen to carry on talks of de-escalation with his country’s rivals but in any case, analysts presume that the ceremony sends an indirect message of military readiness. The naval is also said to be a way to face Ankara's refusal to withdraw its forces and mercenaries from Tripoli.
“The base fills the gaps that pose a threat to its security in the light of the political leadership’s reliance on economic openness with more than one partner” Major General Adel Al-Omda said.