Wed 12 Apr 2023:
A high-ranking Egyptian official has denied giving Russia 40,000 rockets for its conflict with Ukraine.
The unnamed official responded to a Washington Post article that had been published the previous day by speaking to the Al-Qahera News website on Tuesday.
The Post reported that, according to leaked US intelligence documents, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered the production but told officials to keep it a secret “to avoid problems with the West”.
A part of the document dated February 17 alleges that el-Sisi and senior Egyptian officials were to provide Russia with artillery rounds and gunpowder.
The senior official who spoke to Al-Qahera News called the Washington Post report “informational tampering that has no basis in truth”, adding that Egypt follows a balanced foreign policy determined by peace, stability and development.
On the claim about Egypt’s rockets to Russia, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that they have “seen no indication that Egypt is providing lethal weaponry capabilities to Russia”.
Egypt is a “significant security partner,” according to Kirby, who also noted that the two countries have had a long-standing relationship.
The Washington Post’s report was also refuted by Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for the Russian president, who described it as “another lame duck” in “Western mass media,” according to the state-run news agency TASS.
Egypt has publicly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The leaked document that discussed Egypt was part of a trove of leaked reports that purportedly belong to the US Pentagon. They have been circulating on social media channels for weeks, possibly months, so far.
Many of the documents are said to contain top-secret information about the conflict in Ukraine, while other documents seem to contain sensitive analyses of US allies like Israel and South Korea, raising concerns about possible surveillance.
The documents could pose “a very serious risk to national security,” according to Pentagon spokesman Chris Meagher, who issued a warning on Monday.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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