Al Arabiya
July 31, 2013
NATO says it is keeping close eye on Egypt, plans no action
NATO is keeping a close eye on Egypt and watching how the crisis there affects its “partners,” the alliance’s top military commander has said , according to Reuters.
“Right now, NATO is not planning for any actions in Egypt. Much like Syria, we are keeping a close eye on it, looking at how it affects our NATO partners and if we need to, we will do what we need to do to take care of our NATO partners,” said on Tuesday NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Philip Breedlove.
General Breedlove said that many Mediterranean NATO members were affected by the events in North Africa.
“Refugee flows, commerce, drugs, all kinds of things in Europe are affected by what goes on in northern Africa so any instability in northern Africa is clearly a concern of the NATO nations,” he told a group of reporters at NATO’s operational headquarters in Mons, Belgium, according to Reuters.
The European Union dispatched on Monday its foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to try to mediate a diplomatic solution in Egypt before the crisis worsens in the Arab world’s biggest nation.
U.S. President Barack Obama has asked Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain to visit Egypt and try to press the army to move ahead quickly with the democratic process.
(With Reuters)
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