Coup intelligence says relations with CIA now restored

The Director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, Mohamed Farid Tuhami, disclosed that the cooperation between Egypt’s two intelligence services and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has now been restored to the same level as during the rule of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, back when General Omar Suleiman managed the Egyptian intelligence services. Tuhami, known as General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s mentor, is now in charge of military intelligence. Ousted President Mohammed Morsi had dismissed him from his former position over corruption charges; however, the coup leaders reinstated him.

Al-Jazeera Mubashir-Misr broadcast Tuhami’s interview with the American newspaper the Washington Post, during which he said the main emphasis in the relation between the two sides is to combat terrorism. He also explained that he is in constant contact with the director of the CIA and the local station chief, “more than with any other service worldwide”.

Tuhami added that the coup leaders’ rapprochement with Russia will not be at the expense of Egyptian-American relations.

According to the Washington Post, before the 25th January Revolution Tuhami had occupied a sensitive post in the Administrative Oversight Authority that allowed him access to the former regime’s most sensitive secrets. According to his critics, this post helped him to “bury” the financial irregularities of Mubarak’s entourage.