Israel Matzav

Why did Egypt's intelligence chief visit Syria?

The US and Israel have both expressed concern about a recent visit to Damascus by new Egyptian intelligence chief Murad Muwafi.

Mr. Muwafi and others "have a vision for what the relationship [with the U.S.] should look like after the revolution," said Mohammed Ali Bilal, a retired army general who worked closely with Mr. Muwafi. "This is a new era and they should consider the interests of Egypt."

Mr. Muwafi's March 18 trip to Syria appears to be an indication of Egypt's changing priorities. Senior Egyptian officials, including Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby, have said in recent weeks they want to repair their country's relationship with Syria, and the timing of Mr. Muwafi's visit coincided with an Egyptian push to restart the Palestinian reconciliation process.

Much of Hamas' senior leadership lives in Damascus. Meeting with them could have been the main goal of the visit, U.S. officials said. "I think if we knew more, we'd feel better about it," said the senior U.S. defense official.

Israeli officials, who also maintained relatively close ties with Mr. Suleiman, were far less sanguine, analysts said.

Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the Israelis didn't know Mr. Muwafi well and he has kept his distance from them.

"We are not sure what was the exact purpose" of the trip to Syria, said Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He called the trip "very unusual."

Isn't it interesting that the supposed winners of a popular revolution in Egypt would be siding with the tyranny of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus? What could go wrong?

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Egyptian regime change, Murad Muwafi

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:28 PM