International Business Times: Suez Canal a 'coveted trophy' for the Egyptian army

The International Business Times mentioned in a report Thursday that the Egyptian military after the July 3 coup has fully controlled the country’s economy, including the vital Suez Canal development project, which it described as a “coveted trophy” for the army.

Daria Solovieva of the IBT quoted Kings College visiting professor and Egypt expert Robet Springborg as saying that the Egyptian military since the coup has been appointing its people to different positions across the country, and that it is currently controlling the entire economy.

The IBT underlined the example of the Suez Canal development project as the clearest sign of the military’s desire to control the economy.

“The Brotherhood was going to consolidate its economic position through the canal area,” Springborg told IBT. “This would have stripped the military of its control of the biggest development project Egypt will have over the coming two decades.”

According to the IBT, since Morsi’s ouster, “the military-led government has assumed complete control of the bidding process, selecting 14 companies to bid, with the winner to be announced in October. The military, which is responsible for security along the occasionally volatile canal, is acting as the primary contractor for economic development there, as it is in numerous other projects across the nation of 85 million people.”