Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States plans to increase counter-insurgency
cooperation with Egypt.

Officials said the administration of President Barack Obama has begun
consultations with Egypt on ways to increase security aid and cooperation.
They said the cooperation would focus on intelligence exchange, border
security and advanced technology to track insurgency squads in the Sinai
Peninsula.

“We said that we stood ready, but I’m not aware of any kind of specific request for assistance,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.

Officials said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered U.S. security
assistance during a telephone conversation with Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil. They said Ms. Clinton expressed her condolences for the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers in an attack by suspected Al Qaida-aligned fighters along the Egyptian-Israeli border on Aug. 5.

“I don’t have any information about the Egyptians coming to us with a request for specific assistance in the Sinai,” Ventrell said on Aug. 8.

Egypt has been the second largest recipient of U.S. military aid, with
$1.3 billion a year. Congress has linked this aid to Egypt’s commitment to democracy and security cooperation with Israel.

Since 2008, the United States has helped Cairo in efforts to control
infiltration from the Gaza Strip to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Washington has
provided training and equipment to detect activity within the estimated
1,200 tunnels that link Sinai to the Gaza Strip.

But officials acknowledged that increasing lawlessness in Sinai has
hampered security cooperation. They said U.S. security assistance could
resume after Cairo stabilizes the situation through its military
operation in Sinai.

  Gaza Strip, Hillary Clinton, Hisham Kandil, Sinai insurgency squads, U.S. stands by: Egypt not seeking help with Sinai insurgency