Egyptian massacre, with British weapons?

This video is called Chaos returns to the streets of Cairo – exclusive.

By Rory MacKinnon in Britain:

Were Egypt’s dead killed by our guns?

Thursday 15 August 2013

British officials approved sales to Egypt’s military last year of hundreds of sniper rifles and other weapons which may have been used in the Rabaa massacre on Wednesday.

Hundreds of people in Egypt are believed dead following the military regime’s assault on pro-Muslim Brotherhood protesters camping in Cairo’s Rabaa el Adaweya Square, with survivors and reporters describing a massacre by rooftop snipers.

Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday he was “saddened” by the killings, which claimed the life of Sky News cameraman Mick Deane.

But the Morning Star can reveal that officials in the export controls team at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills issued licences for £17.5 million in shipments to Egypt in 2012, despite warnings of further killings.

Shipments included 600 assault rifles, 200 sniper rifles, 30 pistols and a raft of components, equipment and small arms ammunition.

The sickening trade grew even greater this year, with £45m worth of military-designated gear approved between January and March alone.

This included helicopter components and ground vehicle communications equipment, with other restricted shipments including cryptography software and imaging cameras.

Campaign Against the Arms Trade spokeswoman Kaye Stearman said the sudden surge of licences had left her “really, really, really shocked.”

“It was absolutely mad – there’d been plenty of warnings,” she said. “In the first quarter of the year it was pretty chaotic: there was violence on the street, the military was very skittish.

“You had the committee on export controls which had been saying the government hadn’t been cautious enough. Our position would be ‘why should we be exporting arms to any authoritarian government?’

“But when you have a committee of MPs sitting down and questioning the government’s judgement, that’s a real warning sign.”

Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German said she now feared that the regime was “sure” to stock up as a guest at the government’s DSEi arms fair in London next month.

In a show of support for the blood-soaked military regime in Egypt, US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Cairo on Sunday. He met with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and Egyptian President and de facto dictator Abdel Fattah al-Sisi: here.

Egyptian bloodbath and Tony Blair: here.

Fighting surged yesterday across Egypt after the country’s military junta tried to drown protests in blood in Wednesday’s massacre: here.

German politicians and the media have reacted to the massacre carried out by the Egyptian army with either subdued criticism or outright support: here.

Over the weekend, the military junta in Egypt continued its violent crackdown against opposition to its dictatorial regime: here.

Egypt: When armies are in power: here.

Former US army officer found dead in provincial Egyptian jail: here.

While claiming to be dismayed by [Australian journalist] Peter Greste’s fate, [Australia] Prime Minister Tony Abbott has given his full support to the US-backed junta in Cairo: here.

Related articles

• US sends Apache attack helicopters to Egyptian junta
• Thousands in Turkey Protest Rabaa Massacre

• Egypt: Hundreds slaughtered by army including British cameraman assassinated by sniper as he tried to film massacre (mirror.co.uk)
• Cairo massacre: Scores killed and hundreds more injured as Egyptian government declares war on Islamists (independent.co.uk)
• Egypt death toll rises to 464 as Cairo awakes to uneasy calm (telegraph.co.uk)
• Statement from the Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists on the Massacre in Cairo (jadaliyya.com)