Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — Egypt, a leading Arab ally of the United States, has been
identified as a military supplier of Syria, a report said.

Amnesty International said Egypt was one of more than a dozen military
suppliers to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. In a report,
Amnesty said Egypt’s defense industry has exported munitions and firearms to
the Assad regime, sanctioned by the West for its crackdown on the
opposition.

“The following states — Egypt, France and India — supplied military weapons, non-military firearms, munitions, and tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles to Syria over a five-year period, according to Comtrade data,” Amnesty said.

Titled “Arms Transfers To The Middle East And North Africa: Lessons For An Effective Arms Trade Treaty,” the report said Egypt’s arms exports to Syria from 2005 through 2009 was less than $1 million. Amnesty said Egypt sold $618,685 of what the report termed “non-military firearms” and another $296,785 worth of munitions to the Assad regime.

The report did not identify the Egyptian weapons sent to Syria. Egypt, which receives $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid, was said to have the largest defense industry in the Arab world.

The United States is not known to have asked Egypt to halt arms exports to Syria. Washington, however, issued such an appeal to Russia, deemed the largest military supplier to Damascus.

Amnesty said few Arab states were suppliers to their compatriots. An
exception was Saudi Arabia, identified as a supplier of armored personnel
carriers to neighboring Yemen.

  Amnesty International, Bashar Assad, France, India supplied arms to Syria, Report: Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, U.S. military aid, Yemen