Egypt Leader on Defensive Over Claims He Mocked Gulf Allies

In a reflection of Egypt’s massive dependence on Gulf largesse, its president telephoned an array of oil-rich monarchs to control the damage after allegedly being caught on tape discussing how to milk them for cash.

The quick move from an authoritarian leader to patch things up came at a time when Egypt’s government is hoping for more help from regional allies at an international conference next month.

Gulf nations have thrown Egypt’s government a lifeline of tens of billions of dollars since Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi — at the time the head of the military and now Egypt’s president — led the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in the summer of 2013. Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood is seen as a dangerous opponent by most Gulf monarchs, and el-Sissi has waged a fierce crackdown on the group the past year.

The financial help, estimated by one analyst at some $32 billion, helped keep Egypt’s battered economy afloat after years of instability. It also helped cement growing military cooperation between Egypt and the Gulf. Emirate planes, for example, are believed to have used Egyptian territory to launch airstrikes against Islamic terrorists in neighboring Libya. The United Arab Emirates pledged some $9 billion to Egypt in September last year.

But the alleged audio,tape — aired on a Brotherhood-allied media station Saturday — was a potential embarrassment for el-Sissi. In it, he and a top aide purportedly banter in a rather unseemly way about how rich Gulf Arabs are and add up the billions they intend to seek.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab insisted that the tape was fake, telling a Saudi newspaper Tuesday that the Muslim Brotherhood created it using actors to “drive a wedge” between Egypt and its Gulf partners. But the leaks have widely been seen as authentic.

Two senior Egyptian security officials also told The Associated Press it was a fake. But they also said investigators are scouring the president’s office, Defense Ministry and army for any possible Islamist sympathizers. They said “advanced technology” was used in the recordings, raising suspicion of help from “foreign intelligence.”

The two spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal investigation.

On Monday, el-Sissi called leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, praising their wisdom and saying relations won’t be undermined by “nefarious attempts” to do so, the president’s office said in a statement.

The Gulf countries issued their own reassuring messages. Saudi Arabia’s official news agency reported that King Salman views his kingdom’s relationship with Egypt as “unchangeable.”

This article appeared in print on page 6 of the February 11th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.