Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The U.S.-led monitoring force in Egypt’s Sinai
Peninsula has been increasingly hampered by an Al Qaida-aligned insurgency
threat, a report said.

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy said that the
Multinational Force and Observers were coming under constant attack by
Bedouin militias linked to Al Qaida and the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip.

In a report, the institute said MFO has restricted patrols amid the threat of abduction and other attacks.

“Over time, the MFO’s mission will simply become untenable unless
security improves in the Sinai — or unless the rules of engagement are
changed, which seems unlikely,” the report, titled “The MFO Under Fire In Sinai,” said.

Dated June 4, the report said MFO has sought to enhance force
protection. Author David Schenker said the force has modernized and armored its vehicle fleet to protect against rocket-propelled grenade and other bombings.

“Yet growing abduction fears have led to the cancellation of many
patrols, and reconnaissance flights have reportedly been scaled back due to concerns about terrorists or other actors fielding man-portable air-defense systems,” the report said.

In 2012, MFO reported that it underwent nearly 200 attacks from Bedouins
and others in central and eastern Sinai. They included an eight-day siege of
an MFO camp and the Bedouin abduction of 10 Asian officers.

“Should the situation continue to deteriorate, the MFO might reduce its
patrols even further, a la UNIFIL [United Nations Interim Force] in
Lebanon,” the report said. “Although the force has not suffered fatalities
in recent months, donor commitment will erode if troop casualties begin to
mount. Over time, the MFO’s mission will simply become untenable unless
security improves in the Sinai — or unless the rules of engagement are
changed, which seems unlikely.”

MFO, which launched operations in 1982, has employed aircraft to monitor
Egypt’s and Israel’s commitment to their peace treaty. The United States was
said to contribute nearly 700 out of the 1,656 military personnel, including
an infantry battalion task force and logistics unit. In 2005, MFO’s mandate
was expanded to include Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip.

The report said MFO has been endangered by the absence of Egyptian
authority in Sinai since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in February
2011. The security vacuum has spawned Bedouin militias as well as Al Qaida
in the Sinai Peninsula and Ansar Al Jihad.

MFO was also under threat by the growing Palestinian militia presence in
Sinai. The report cited such groups as the Hamas-aligned Popular Resistance
Committee and Army of Islam.

“These groups have not yet targeted MFO personnel, but they could do so
in the future,” the report said.

So far, none of the 12 countries that contribute to MFO has threatened
to withdraw from Sinai. The report proposed increased U.S. intervention to
ensure effective Egyptian law enforcement and cooperation with neighboring
Israel.

“If the violence still does not abate, the partners may also need to
redefine the MFO’s rules of engagement to better reflect the increasingly
unfriendly environment in which it operates,” the report said. “Absent these
changes, the current trajectory could render peacekeeping operations in the
Sinai unsustainable — another blow to an already embattled treaty.”

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