Trick to granting Egypt citizenship for investment

What was an offhand proposal by the former head of the Saudi intelligence service, Turki Al-Faisal, to the late Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, with the aim of easing the economic burden on Egypt, is now an Egyptian sovereign law after the a parliamentary committee approved it. This warns of dangers that may push Egypt to rock bottom.

This was also proposed by veteran Saudi intelligence officer and Bin Salman’s envoy to Israel, Anwar Eshki, after frequent visits to occupied Palestine. The law is related to granting citizenship to foreign investors. This same individual is involved with the Neom project and has promoted its benefits for Egyptians, along with his engineering of seizing Tiran and Sanafir and buying them for the benefit of the Israeli national security.

The proposal was also repeated by the advisor to the Saudi monarch, Turki Al-Sheikh, who discussed the launch of more investments in Egypt with Egyptian artists and MPs. He said he expects the Egyptian government to be more dynamic and grant investors all facilitations, including citizenship. He believes the proposal is an economic stroke of genius that he gifted to the Egyptian people!

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We recall all of this after the National Defense and Security Committee in the Egyptian House of Representatives, headed by Kamal Amer, announced, during its meeting this week, its approval of the prime minister’s decision to amend some provisions of Law No. 89 of 1960 regarding the entry and residence of foreigners in Egypt and their exit, as well as Law No. 26 of 1975 related to granting citizenship.

In a press release after the meeting, Amer said that the draft law aims to grant citizenship in exchange for investment, which reflects on achieving economic development and preserves the state’s ability to achieve national security.

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This is the same project that Omar Suleiman considered a “misguided proposal” during his leaked conversation with Muammar Gaddafi a decade ago. At the time, he was complaining about the arrogance of Saudi Arabia. However, the new Egypt, under the leadership of Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, has given in to the will of Trump’s axis (the three B’s: Benjamin, Bin Salman and Bin Zayed), and considers the proposal to be a great achievement for Egyptians that will open the gates of paradise to them. It is worth noting that this is only a prelude to the “deal of the century” by granting citizenship to Palestinians giving up the right of return, after the UAE and Saudi Arabia agreed to secure a sum of money to those who give up their right to return, according to the offer received by Mahmoud Abbas. Even more dangerous is opening the door wide open to granting nationality to Israelis, considering they are foreigners too, who can pay $10,000 to obtain Egyptian citizenship and infiltrate Egyptian security and society.

Turki Al-Faisal and Eshki are known for their intelligence history, their relations with the Americans and the Israelis, and their service of one agenda that serves the Israelis. However, based on whose logic is Turki Al-Sheikh speaking? We must take note of the fact that Turki Al-Sheikh, descendant of the family of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdul Wahab, is a major figure in the palace’s security group. This group played an important role in persuading Egyptian MPs of the Egyptian constitutional amendments, which made Al-Sisi the eternal ruler of necessity.

The matter is bigger than just a project of granting citizenship; it is a part of the deal of the century to end the Palestinian refugee issue and empty the land of its indigenous people.

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Those closely examining the details of this project that is both dangerous and terrifying for the Egyptian national security will see that the goal is to slowly fragment Egypt and infiltrate it on every level. This is either through granting citizenship to the Palestinians and removing this burden from the shoulders of the Israelis, or by granting citizenship to a number of Israelis and other security figures from the Saudi Gulf axis to infiltrate Egyptian security, putting Egypt’s decisions in the hands of its enemies.

This article first appeared in Arabic in Arabi21 on 13 June 2019

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.