By Con Coughlin
Taking action that harms the Egyptian economy could also be counterproductive to Mr Cameron’s plans for bringing stability to North Africa
David Cameron's decision to cancel British flights to the Egyptian desert resort of Sharm el-Sheikh is not exactly the welcome President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was expecting when he flew to London for talks at Downing Street to rebuild Anglo-Egyptian relations after all the tumult of the past four years.
"With neighbouring Libya now reduced to lawlessness, it is vital to Britain’s interests to have a strong and stable government in Egypt"
When I met Mr Sisi at the presidential palace in Cairo for an interview earlier this week, Mr Sisi dismissed claims that the Russian aircraft that crashed in Sinai on Sunday was the victim of a terrorist attack, claiming these suggestions were nothing more than “propaganda”.
But that is clearly not how the British intelligence and security establishment view the incident, with the result that, following a Cobra meeting late on Wednesday, Mr Cameron made the decision to ground all British flights to and from Sinai.
This will come as a severe blow to Mr Sisi, for a healthy tourism industry is vital to his plans to regenerate the Egyptian economy. For, during his interview with the Telegraph, Mr Sisi was keen to stress the importance of improving trade ties and investment opportunities for British firms as part of his attempts to rebuild the Egyptian economy.
To Mr Sisi’s mind, lack of economic opportunity among Egypt’s young, restless population was the real underlying cause of the protests that erupted in Tahrir Square four years ago. As he told me in the interview, he regards it to be a fundamental human right for all Egyptians to have employment, a decent standard of living and access to medical care and education, and the only way to achieve this worthy goal is through economic development.
"Taking action that harm’s the Egyptian economy could be counterproductive to Mr Cameron’s plans for bringing stability to North Africa"
In this context, tourism plays a vital role in the Egyptian economy. Before the so-called Arab Spring, Egypt’s warm climate, ancient monuments and golden beaches attracted nearly 13 million visitors each year which was worth a massive £11 billion to the Egyptian economy.
But now, thanks to Mr Cameron’s decision to ground all British flights to and from Sinai, Egypt’s tourism industry has suffered a severe blow, one that could completely undo all of the Egyptian plans for economic regeneration.
Taking action that harm’s the Egyptian economy could also be counterproductive to Mr Cameron’s plans for bringing stability to North Africa after all the political turbulence of the past four years. The Prime Minister has moved on from his naive enthusiasm for the Arab Spring four years ago which saw him join anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square calling for the overthrow of Mr Sisi’s military predecessor, President Hosni Mubarak.
With neighbouring Libya now reduced to lawlessness following the military intervention to topple Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, it is vital to Britain’s interests to have a strong and stable government in Egypt. But taking measures that could ultimately ruin the Egyptian economy hardly seems the best way of going about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment