The National Council for Arab and Egyptian Tribes (NCAET) held a conference in which they announced they will spend EGP 1bn to "develop Egypt's tribes". The NCAET also claimed "there is a war against Egypt and the tribes". The Council stated that it has visited Halayeb, Shalateen, and Abu Ramad. This visit is the first in a longer series of visits to "all tribes across Egypt," the coucil said. The "development" aid this round is specifically for the Halayeb, Shalateen, and Abu Ramad triangle. Military General and governor of the Red Sea governorate, Ahmed AbdAllah, as well as the head of the NCAET and leading tribal figures were present at the conference, according to the statement. One of the tribal respresentatives asked the tribes to support President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in his "fight against terrorism and fundamentalism." Salem Abu Ghazaleh, Vice President of the Coucil for Legal Affairs, stressed the importance "developing Arab tribes' culture and getting rid of assabeya, solidarity," adding that these groups should be orgainsed "behind the state". The Sinai Tribal Federation, a confederation of 30 tribes based in the peninsula, stated on Sunday that they will begin a fight against the self-proclaimed ‘Islamic State' militants in the peninsula. The Egyptian state has for decades made efforts to put tribes under further state control, according to academics.
