Egypt ordered $2.55m in US-made teargas: memo
Al-Akhbar
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February 23, 2013
Egypt ordered 140,000 unlabeled teargas canisters worth $2.55 million from the United States this January, Egypt's al-Masry al-Youm revealed Friday.
A 30 January letter from the Interior Ministry to the Defense Ministry, leaked by the newspaper, said a US company had been contracted to import 70,000 gas bombs and 70,000 long range gas projectiles.
The order came at the start of a week of mass protests against President Mohammed Murisi and police brutality.
It cited a "growing need for gas bombs to deal with rioters," and urged the Defense Ministry to facilitate the shipment by taking the goods on board a military jet from the US to Egypt.
The US has seemingly tried to escape scrutiny by having Egypt remove the company's name and country of origin from the canisters, another memo showed.
The Al-Qindy Company for Imports and Exports, a representative of the US Combined System Company in Egypt, was tasked with the job.
Combined Systems Inc. is a Pennsylvania based defense contractor that specializes in non-lethal law enforcement-related products such as flashbangs, breaching munitions, and grenade launchers in addition to training for military and law enforcement personnel that "certify officers as less-lethal instructors".
The company’s website has six product catalogs from 2010 and 2011, and Arabic is the only language other than English in which the catalogs appear in, suggesting the importance of their Middle Eastern clientele.
"The US government was stringent in issuing export permits for Egypt items that have been contracted since July, due to …. what was circulated by the media and rights groups about the US company's effect on protesters while using [the gas canisters] against rioters in Egypt," a 28 January memo by Major General Magdy al-Gohary said.
Gohary is the head of the department for police supply.
"The permit from the US government was obtained after removing the company's name and country of origin written on the items," the memo added.
News of the multimillion tear gas payment comes amid a rapidly swelling budget deficit, when Egypt's foreign reserves have halved and the government stopped paying for fuel subsidies.
Since November 2012, 48 protesters have been killed, hundreds injured and 30 have disappeared. Fourteen police officers are reported to have died in those clashes.
According to activists, at least 70 protesters have been tortured since the start of mass protests that led to the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak.
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