CAIRO: The Second Field Army (SFA) organized a sports day for North Sinai’s Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in its headquarters in Ismailia Tuesday, amid reports that its presence in Sinai is being reconsidered.
Souvenirs were exchanged with MFO Commander Major General Denis Thompson, who assumed his post in December 2013, according to a Wednesday statement by military spokesperson Mohamed Samir.
There is “full coordination and cooperation between SFA and MFO to facilitate its task in ensuring that the Egypt-Israel peace treaty is applied,” a security source told Youm7 Wednesday.
Established in 1981, MFO coming to an end?
The SFA’s step comes amid reports that the U.S. is considering withdrawing its officers from the MFO, or enhancing their armed protection, officials told AP Tuesday. The U.S. is the largest contributor to MFO, with its Task Force Sinai (TFS) comprising 692 military personnel as of 2014.
An Egyptian official source told local newspaper Shorouk July 2 that the U.S. has signaled to Cairo that it is reconsidering its TFS amid “stability of Egyptian-Israeli relations and intelligence and security coordination between the two countries.”
The MFO has informed Cairo that it is worried about the security of its personnel, Shorouk’s source said, adding that an ultimate decision on the matter would not be made in the near future.
On July 16, Foreign Minister Sameh Fahmy met with MFO’s Director General David M. Satterfield, who has been in office since 2009, to discuss the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, counterterrorism efforts and providing facilitations and protection for MFO to carry out its designated tasks, MENA reported.
It is uncertain when the U.S. began reviewing TFS, but North Sinai has witnessed militant attacks since the January 25 Revolution in 2011, mounting to wide-scale, coordinated assaults on the Egyptian military and police following the 2013 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi.
Egypt has used heavy weaponry and its air force to fight Wilayat Sinai (formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis) fighters in North Sinai; per the Camp David Accords Egyptian heavy weaponry is forbidden, however in this case Israel has expressed consent over the reinforcements.
Wilayat Sinai targets MFO?
While Wilayat Sinai might be looking forward to an MFO exit to purport a victory over the Egyptian government, the Egyptian branch of IS has refrained from perpetrating a fatal attack on the multinational force, seemingly to avoid further international support to Egypt in its fight in North Sinai.
On June 9, mortar shells were fired at the direction of el-Gorah airport, used by the MFO. Wilayat Sinai claimed responsibility for the attack, but no casualties were reported.
In September 2012, militants attacked the camp and set fire to vehicles and tools, and three foreign soldiers were wounded. At the time, Egypt witnessed a number of anti-U.S. protests after a film, viewed by Muslims as derogatory, was produced there.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Egyptian soldiers were killed over a number of attacks in the past two years. The most recent wide-scale attack in North Sinai was carried out July 1, killing 17 soldiers; some 200 militants were killed during and after the clashes, according to the military.
Unlike a number of previous assaults, where they were able to kill hundreds of soldiers and flee the scene before reinforcements arrived, the militants have not posted videos of their aggression.
Nevertheless, the Egyptian authorities say that conditions in Sinai are stable; the Foreign Ministry said Aug. 15 that the restive area represents only 5 percent of the peninsula.
The North Camp of MFO is located at el-Gorah town, 37 kilometers away from Arish. In February, weeks after an attack that killed dozens of Egyptian soldiers in North Sinai, the ambassadors of 16 states visited the MFO North Camp. The other MFO camp lies near Sharm el-Sheikh resort in South Sinai, the stable southern half of the peninsula.