The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is ready to hand over power to the new president, according to security analyst Sameh Seif El-Yazal.
Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi will voluntarily give up his powers and will not seek any political position after the election, added El-Yazal in an interview with Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper Tuesday.
He went on to describe talk that the country would descend into chaos in the event of an Ahmed Shafiq victory as “purely humorous” and predicted the armed forces and police would ensure voting is carried out in a safe environment.
The SCAF did not endorse a specific candidate, El-Yazal said, and if it had wished to back a certain candidate, “it would have presented one of its own and made him wear a civilian suit.”
He said the Egyptian intelligence service had faced a “vicious campaign” against its legitimacy in recent months from within and without the country, and added that it should not be questioned over its conduct under the previous regime because it was acting within its jurisdiction.
Speculation over a possible Israeli military intervention in Egypt was misguided, he said, because it was not in Israel’s interest to fight Egypt at the present time, as the situation remained tense with its other neighbours.
El-Yazal expressed his support for Egypt’s decision to halt gas deals with Israel in April, yet was against bombing the pipelines "because a lot of the gas is being sent to Jordan and Lebanon as well.”
Since there is no official trade deal with Israel and no stipulation of the deal in the Camp David peace treaty, any intimidation by Israel should not be rejected.
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