Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced that Britain has withdrawn export licenses previously issued to the Egyptian military today in response to the recent military coup d’etat, and a growing number of civilian deaths.
“We will not grant export licenses where we judge there is a clear risk the goods might be used for internal repression,” noted Cable. The move will halt shipments of arms and arms components to the new junta. He said further shipments would be managed on a case-by-case basis.
The move is the first significant western rebuke of Egypt’s coup, and the Obama Administration has openly ignored US law which obliges the end of military aid in the event of a coup. The US provides over $1.5 billion in annual aid to Egypt, and will continue to do so irrespective of the coup.
Cable’s move comes as Britain’s parliament has expressed growing concerns about the government’s exports to nations with dubious human rights records, and suggests that they are at least trying to address those concerns.
And who does not see through these games? Britan is in this case to be the "good" cop, while US will support the military leader who orchestrated the coup. The coup has been a rolling coup, a pressure by troika of Saudi controlled Salafists, pro-US elements within military and US. They have all in the name of "stability" forced Morsi to compromise — and created conditions for the coup. One of the worst was to convince him to take the power himself by removing interrim military rule. That was a mistake, because that crop of military was neutral, and was sheparding all the elections. But it was to be blocked at all costs, to prevent Morsi from ever having full compliment of legal instruments to govern. Now, it does not matter . Military is the government, constitution voted on, trashed, elected president in jail, Mubarak rule is back on. Salafist were on the streets to give it all the credibility of people's revolt. All disguisting.