From: Office of Tetje Rod-Larsen < Subject: IPI Middle East Update - July 7, 2014 Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 14:16:40 +0000 INTERNATIONAL PEACE INSTITUTE IPI Middle East Update July 7, 2014 Egypt: The first month in office has already proved turbulent for President Al Sisi. Terrorist attacks on and around the first anniversary of the June 30th uprising that led to the ousting of Muslim Brotherhood President Morsi highlighted that the security threat remains high: two bomb disposal experts were killed that day as they attempted to defuse bombs outside the presidential palace. An Islamist militant group named Ajdnad Misr (which the interior ministry claimed had been vanquished) had warned days in advance that they were planning the attack. Two days before, Islamist gunmen killed four Egyptian policemen in northern Sinai—an indicator that the insurgency the state has struggled against there since 2011 is far from extinguished. Meanwhile, recent diplomatic gestures indicate the direction that Egyptian foreign policy is taking under an Al Sisi presidency. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia made a landmark visit on June 20th en route from Morocco. The aging monarch touched down in Cairo along with his ministers of finance and foreign affairs for a meeting with Al Sisi, which took place on Abdullah's plane. As the first foreign leader to visit Al Sisi since he took office, the gesture is symbolic of strong Saudi support for Egypt and its new president. Indeed, the monarchy has already showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid after the Muslim Brotherhood was removed and called for a major donor conference to support the Egyptian economy. A few days later, US Secretary of State Kerry arrived in Egypt and quietly released $572 million in aid that the US administration had been holding back until after the election had taken place. While the release of funding appeared to indicate that Egyptian-American ties are returning to business as usual, the US had extr