In what was described as a historic move by commentators, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia this week expressed his country's strong support for Egypt's present government in its fight against terrorism and extremism. The move was also regarded as a new Arab awakening by commentators, or as the redrawing of the map of the Arab world and possibly of the world as a whole. The statement represented genuine support for Egypt from Saudi Arabia, according to Gamal Salama, a professor of political science at Suez Canal University. “It reflects an instinctive awareness of the dangers facing not only Egypt, but also Kuwait, the UAE and other Arab states as well,” Salama said, adding that it was a very important move that would ease the pressure put on Egypt by the US, the European Union and other countries. The Saudi stand reminded a spokesperson of the leftist Tagammu Party, Nabil Zaki, of the nationalist stands that the Arab states used to take at times of crises in the 1950s and 60s and especially during the 1973 War. “Saudi Arabia is a country that also suffers from terrorism. It therefore understands the importance of supporting the job Egypt is doing. It is helping to fight the global war against terrorism,” Zaki told Al-Ahram Weekly. In a statement read on Saudi television last Friday, King Abdullah said that what was happening in Egypt was an internal Egyptian affair. “Whoever interferes in Egypt's internal affairs is lighting the fire of sedition and promoting the terrorism they are fighting,” he said. In a clear reference to the US, the king blamed outsiders who were ignorant of Arabism, Islam and Egypt for their interference in the politics of the Arab world's most populous state. The statement was followed by other Saudi moves, among them negotiations between Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal and French President François Hollande, during which they agreed to give Egypt's new government a chance to implement the newly drawn-up roadmap. “We have agreed on giving the roadmap in Egypt a chance to fulfil security needs and early elections,” Al-Faisal said after meeting with Hollande on Monday. “It is not a small matter when 30 million Egyptians take to the streets to ask their government to conduct early elections and restore security. Security was threatened during the time of the former [Morsi] regime,” he said. Al-Faisal also said that Arab and Islamic countries would step in to help Egypt if Western nations cut their aid packages to Cairo over its crackdown on Islamist protesters. Millions of Egyptians took to the streets on 30 June to ask for the ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi and an end to the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood. The newly drawn-up roadmap guarantees amendments to the constitution and the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections in the coming nine months. A day after King Abdullah's statement, Saudi Arabia declared that it was sending Egypt three fully-equipped field hospitals to support the country in its fight against violence and terrorism. The Saudi support for Egypt was immediately backed by both the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, who hailed the Saudi move and reiterated their support for the new government in Egypt. On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Malaki backed the Egyptian military crackdown on supporters of Morsi. While he appealed for all parties to exercise restraint, Al-Malaki said that Baghdad stood with the Egyptian government, describing its moves against the Muslim Brotherhood as efforts to impose law and order. The countries provide a supporting axis to Egypt in its war against terrorism after the ousting of Morsi. Since the former president was removed from office, Egypt has been facing a campaign by the US, Europe, Turkey and Qatar, who have called for the return of Morsi. The Saudi statement, followed by other Arab countries' support, has now given a new dimension to that situation. “It is as if Saudi Arabia had inserted a stick in the rotating wheel of this campaign,” Salama said. The country had used its status in the region and its influence in Europe and the US to change the rules of the game, he added. The US, which has repeatedly called on the Egyptian military to stop its crackdown on the Brotherhood, pointed to the possibility of halting US aid to Egypt if there was no end to the violence. It has cancelled joint military exercises with Egypt and warned that traditional military ties with the US were at risk should the military refuse to give in to US demands. EU foreign ministers met in Brussels on 21 August to review what steps to take following last week's dispersal of the pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and what they called the continuation of the violence in Egypt. Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to suspend his country's relations with Egypt over the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood supporters. Erdogan's AKP Islamist party is believed to be a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar, also a staunch supporter of the Brotherhood during its year in power, promised the group as much as $8 billion in aid before the 30 June Revolution, and has since called for Morsi to be freed from detention. Zaki noted the inconsistency in the US stand, since the US was itself subjected to ferocious terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. “The US was attacked by Al-Qaeda in 2001. However, it now refuses to condemn the terrorists who are raising the Al-Qaeda flag in Sinai and Cairo,” he said. Al-Qaeda was not present in Iraq or Yemen until the interference of the US, and it was not present in Libya until the NATO intervention in that country's civil conflict. “The US aims to divide the Middle East into small, bickering entities in order to guarantee Israeli hegemony in the region,” Zaki said. He hailed the Saudi statement and its strong support for Egypt, which should help stop Al-Qaeda influence in the country. Over the last two years, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly expressed its concerns over threats of religious movements like the Muslim Brotherhood, which is officially banned in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries welcomed the ouster of Morsi in July, Saudi King Abdullah being the first Arab leader to send a message of congratulations to caretaker President Adli Mansour, who was appointed shortly after the army deposed Morsi following nationwide protests. Saudi Arabia has since announced an aid package worth $5 billion for Egypt. Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have followed suit, bringing the pledges made by the three oil-rich Arab states to $12 billion.
