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Egypt launches major military exercise

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Thursday, August 30, 2001

CAIRO Ñ Egypt has launched a major military exercise that neighboring Israel fears could be the start of an incursion into the demilitarized Sinai Peninsula.

Western defense sources in Cairo said the exercise so far includes Egypt's Second Army. The Third Army is expected to join the exercise at a later date.

The maneuvers began in the area of Ismalia near the Suez Canal on Tuesday. They included participation by Egypt's army and air force, particularly air defense units, command control.

The exercise is called Bader and is expected to take at last two weeks. Last year, the normally-annual exercise was cancelled in the Ismalia region.

The sources said foreign defense attaches in Cairo have been given virtually no official information on Bader. They said they expect the attaches to be invited to Bader toward the end of the exercise.

Egyptian sources confirmed the exercise and said they are being overseen by Egyptian Chief of Staff Gen. Magdi Hatata. They would not provide details.

The Bader exercise has prompted concern in both Israel and the United States. Western defense sources said Israel has expressed concern to the United States that Egypt could exploit the exercise to stage an incursion into the Sinai, a peninsula that was largely demilitarized under the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.

Earlier, Israeli military sources said the Bader exercise has become a focus of Israeli and U.S. monitoring. The sources said Egypt could threaten an incursion into Sinai to stop any Israeli military offensive against the Palestinian Authority.

Egypt and the PA are said to have signed a mutual defense pact.

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