Egypt opens naval base, latest example of military build-up

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CAIRO (AP) – The Egyptian president on Saturday inaugurated a new naval base on the Mediterranean Sea, the latest example of government military strengthening.

The base is intended to “secure the northern and western front of the country … and the maritime routes”, according to a statement from Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s office.

The inauguration, broadcast on state television, was also attended by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and Mohammed al-Menfi, head of the ruling presidential council in Libya.

The base is located in the Gargoub region, approximately 255 kilometers (160 miles) west of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

The base is named after July 3, 2013, the day el-Sisi, as defense minister, led the army’s overthrow of an elected Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, amid protests. national laws against its system of division.

In recent years, Egypt has modernized its army, purchasing sophisticated weapons and opening bases across the country.

In 2017, Egypt opened a military base in the province of Marsa Matrouh, in the northwest of the country. He said the base, named after the late President Mohammed Naguib, an Egyptian army officer who became the country’s first president in the 1950s, is the largest in the Middle East.

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