Dempsey: U.S. Must Remain Engaged with Muslim World

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT  – The recent anti-American demonstrations that have occurred in many Muslim countries “demands for us to be more engaged, not less engaged,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today during an aircraft flight from Sibiu, Romania, to Ankara, Turkey.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said the situation is the most complex he has seen since becoming chairman.

In Libya, a coordinated attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi resulted in the deaths of four Americans including the U.S. ambassador to the country. There have been anti-American demonstrations in Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Pakistan and many others.

While the spark that ignited the demonstrations was a crude video that denigrated Islam, there are several factors that have contributed to rage against the United States, the chairman said.

The chairman wants to learn from the situation. “At some level, I think what we are seeing are societies that have been suppressed,” he said. “They have not had anything like freedom of speech or even the ability to congregate.”

Security forces in these countries are for the first time under civilian rule, and are less likely to intervene unless directed by political leaders, the chairman said.

And, he said, there are often power struggles within the countries.

“Some of those groups are truly anti-American and radical and violent,” Dempsey said. “Certainly you have these groups that are anti-American, who are extreme, who are competing for power in the country.”

These extremist groups often did not accumulate the number of votes they’d thought they would get in free elections, Dempsey said. Such groups that experienced failure at the ballot box, he added, could “now try to gain some traction around the idea of being anti-American in order to gain influence for themselves. These groups are trying to manipulate the population.”

Now is not the time for the United States to withdraw from these countries, the chairman said.

“It demands for us to be more engaged, not less engaged,” he said, “so that we can counter that message of extremism that is being propagated by these violent, extreme organizations.”

Signs of Military Professionalism, Cooperation On Rise in Africa

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

STUTTGART, Germany, June 26, 2012 – Dotting the African continent are promising examples of the capable, professional military forces U.S. Africa Command is working to promote.

As Tunisia spawned what became known as the Arab Spring in December 2010, its military opposed then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s order to use force against the pro-democracy protesters who ultimately brought down his regime.

The Ugandan army has become a professional force and plays a key role in advancing regional peace and security, conducting humanitarian operations at home while contributing thousands of troops to counterterrorism and peacekeeping efforts in neighboring Somalia.

Uganda is also among four African nations -- also including South Sudan, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- that have come together to fight the Lord’s Resistance Army, one of Africa’s most violent and persistent rebel groups which has brutalized civilians in the region for a quarter-century.

Meanwhile, Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti are contributing forces under the banner of the African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, to help Somalia deal with the al-Shabab terrorist organization that threatens its transitional government.

And in Liberia -- a nation long wracked by civil war and instability -- the military once discredited as the puppet of former president and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor has become a respected organization under the direction of the democratically elected civilian leadership.

Officials at Africom, the United States’ newest combatant command focused on Africa, see these and other developments as a sign of positive trends they’re helping to shape on the continent.

Strengthening the defense capabilities of African countries and encouraging them to work together to confront common security threats and challenges has been a cornerstone of Africom’s work since its standup in 2008.

Africom has been instrumental in supporting other promising developments, Army Maj. Gen. Charles J. Hooper, Africom’s director of strategy, plans and programs, told American Forces Press Service. “We see increasing trends toward democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights,” he said. “And I think Africom has played a very positive role in supporting those trends.”

Hooper pointed to the role U.S. military advisors and mentors have played in rebuilding the Armed Forces of Liberia through a five-year, State-Department funded Africom program known as Operation Onward Liberty. For the past two years, Marine Forces Africa has led the joint Marine-Army-Air Force effort aimed at helping professionalize the Liberian military and ensuring it's able to defend the country’s borders and come to the aid of its neighbors if needed.

“This small training and education mission [is] focused on developing a cohesive Liberian armed force,” said Hooper. “I saw our Operation Onward Liberty mentors assisting them in everything from [establishing] a fair military justice system and teaching the military police to serve, to working in the clinics, all the way to assisting the young soldiers in the Liberian army who volunteered and started an elementary school on their base,” he said.

Particularly encouraging, he said, was the Liberian military’s new focus on internal development. Engineering units, for example, were using their equipment to build roads and rebuild infrastructure ravaged during years of civil war.

Hooper said he was impressed by the Liberian force that has emerged. “What I saw there was a Liberian military that had a renewed faith in itself, a renewed enthusiasm about being a force for good in its country and serving the people,” he said.

Michael Casciaro, Africom’s security cooperation programs division chief, reported similar promise in Uganda, where the command is providing training and equipment to build capability and capacity.

Casciaro said he received favorable feedback about the transformation taking place in the Ugandan military from the unlikeliest of sources: an opposition leader. “What he told us was, ‘I see the difference in Americans operating in my country… I see the impact of Americans working with the Ugandans because now they … go out and do humanitarian things for their own country, and are being used in a different way,’” Casciaro said.

In 2007, Uganda stepped up to support the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, followed by Burundi; both remain today as the primary troop-contributing nations. “A major objective of ours has been to prepare Africans to go into Somalia to create stability,” Casciaro said. “And [the African militaries] have been instrumental in clearing a prominent terrorist group out of Mogadishu,” a first step toward expanding the effort north to regain control of the country.

Army Brig. Gen. Arnold Gordon-Bray, Africom’s deputy operations director, called the mission in Somalia “one of the best examples of Africans helping themselves that we are involved in.”

The African Union established its African Union Mission to Somalia with a clear vision that a failed Somalia would impact the entire continent, Bray said.

“This collective grouping is epitomizing what Africom is able to do, working with the State Department, working with other international partners, working by, with and through African partners to bring stability,” he said. “It is a great mission. It is symbolic of all the great things we are trying to do.”

A full range of peacekeeping training and instruction falls under the Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance, a program funded and managed by the U.S. State Department. It is designed to improve African militaries’ capabilities by providing selected training and equipment required to execute multinational peace support operations. U.S. military trainers play a supporting role, providing mentorship and specialized instruction in areas such as bomb detection or deployment logistics.

Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, the Africom commander, told Congress earlier this year he’s also encouraged by “an increasingly collaborative approach” among African nations standing together against al-Shabab. As they rallied to Somalia’s aid, the U.S. State Department responded to their requests for help in training and equipping those forces so they would be able to deploy to conduct their operations.

Ham called this effort a model of what U.S. Africa Command is all about: a command able to tap into the full range of U.S. government capabilities to help African nations better provide for their own security.

“And it is starting now to have significant benefit… We are seeing those African forces being more and more successful against al-Shabab each and every day,” he said. “This is one example of how building partner capacity really yields a decisive result in Africa,” he said.

Ham cited similar success in helping Africans in their fight against the Lord’s Resistance Army.

U.S. Special Forces advisors working with the four nations on the ground “are having a very positive effect,” he told the House Armed Services Committee in February. “We’re assisting in intelligence fusion, in facilitating long-range communications, logistics operations to sustain forces in the field for long periods of time and increased intelligence collection.”

“So I’m optimistic,” he told the House panel. “But I’m not yet to the point where we see the end in sight.”

The result, Ham said, is fulfillment of Africom’s goal of enabling Africans to solve African problems.

“If that is successful -- and I believe the trend line is pretty good right now -- that means that’s an area where the United States would not have to commit sizable forces to address a security situation,” Ham told the House panel. “And that’s really what we’re trying to do. That’s the essence of building partner capability in this collaborative approach with state and defense.”

Alleged Terrorist Indicted in New York for the Murder of Five American Soldiers

NEW YORK—Today, a federal grand jury in Brooklyn, N.Y., returned an indictment charging Faruq Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa, 38, aka “Faruk Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa,” “Sayfildin Tahir Sharif” and “Tahir Sharif Sayfildin,” with aiding in the murder of five American soldiers in a suicide-bomb attack in Iraq in April 2009.

Specifically, he is charged with the murders of Staff Sergeant Gary L. Woods, 24, of Lebanon Junction, Ky.; Sergeant First Class Bryan E. Hall, 32, of Elk Grove, Calif.; Sergeant Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of St. Louis; Corporal Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Davenport, Iowa; and Army Private First Class Bryce E. Gaultier, 22, from Cyprus, Calif.

The indictment also charges the defendant with conspiring to kill Americans abroad and providing material support to that terrorist conspiracy to kill Americans abroad.

In January 2011, the defendant was arrested and detained in Canada after he was charged by a federal complaint in the Eastern District of New York. The United States is seeking the defendant’s extradition from Canada in relation to the federal complaint in the Eastern District of New York. He remains in custody, and the defendant’s extradition hearing in Canada is currently scheduled for Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, 2012.

The charges were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; and Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI.

The government’s investigation is being conducted by the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, with assistance provided by the Department of Defense, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the government of Tunisia.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zainab Ahmad, Carter H. Burwell and Berit W. Berger, with assistance provided by Mary Futcher and Stephen Ponticiello of the Counterterrorism Section in the Department of Justice’s National Security Division. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided assistance in this matter.

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Pentagon Official Discusses Libya No-Fly Zone

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2011 – Amid reports from Libya that indicate Moammar Gadhafi’s troops are gaining the upper hand over the opposition, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell spoke during an MSNBC interview today about the situation in Libya and possible responses.

Morrell, who has just returned from accompanying Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to NATO for discussions on the situation in North Africa, said NATO defense ministers agreed “to continue planning for any and all military options, including a no-fly zone.”

What happens with the no-fly zone will depend on a political decision that has not been made yet, Morrell said.

“However, as we saw over the weekend, now the Arab League is calling for it,” he added. “So that will undoubtedly factor into the decision-making of the president and other European leaders as they go forward.”

Three American ships remain off the Libyan coast: the USS Kearsarge, the USS Ponce and the USS Barry. Other NATO nations also have positioned ships in the Mediterranean.

“But remember,” Morrell said, “this is to monitor the arms embargo that the U.N. put in place, as well as to provide humanitarian assistance if needed.”

If the decision is made to establish a no-fly zone, the U.S. military can make it work, Morrell said.

“I don't think this has ever been a question of can we do this,” he said. “I mean, this is the United States military. Even though we have significant commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world, Secretary Gates has made it abundantly clear we can do this.”

NATO allies would help, Morrell noted. “It’s important that we not do it alone,” he said. “But this is not a question of ‘can.’ It’s a question of whether we should. And that’s a decision that the president will make at some point.”

Meanwhile, two more U.S. military flights flew Egyptian civilians home from Tunisia over the weekend, Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan said today.

A March 12 flight out of Djerba airlifted 60 Egyptians back to Cairo, and a flight yesterday had 79 passengers. The Egyptians escaped fighting inside Libya and were stranded in Tunisia.

To date, 13 such flights have airlifted 982 passengers, Lapan said. The C-130 flights began March 5, and there are none scheduled today, he added.

Marines Airlift 45 Egyptians Home From Tunisia

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 11, 2011 – A Marine Corps KC-130 aircraft has airlifted 45 Egyptians from Djerba, Tunisia, to Cairo in the latest transport of refugees from Libya, Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan said today.

This brings the total number of Egyptians transported by the American military to Cairo to 835 in 11 flights.

The Marine aircraft flew from Sigonella Naval Air Station, Italy, to Djerba, where it loaded the passengers.

The Egyptian government has a standing request with the United States to help in transporting Egyptians who fled the fighting in Libya back to Egypt. Air Force and Marine Corps planes are standing by in Italy and Greece to aid that effort.

The first flights began March 5. DOD officials said the U.S. planes will fly Egyptians home as long as there is a need, and that no other country has requested this help.

United Nations officials said more than 250,000 people have fled the fighting in Libya since it began last month, estimating that roughly 6,000 people leave the nation each day.

Gates Visits Bahrain to Urge Reform Dialogue

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

MANAMA, Bahrain, March 11, 2011 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived here today to meet with Bahraini leaders and urge dialogue and a process of reform in response to weeks of protests in this country and across the region.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said the secretary believed it was important to engage with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa about the situation in Bahrain and elsewhere in the region.

Gates has two messages, Morrell said: “A reassurance of our support, as well as encouragement of the national dialogue, which is in its nascent stages now.”

This visit will see the secretary, as the first U.S. Cabinet member to visit the kingdom since protests began, in more of a diplomatic role than on previous visits, the press secretary noted.

“These are … clearly political issues,” Morrell said. “But [Gates is] very much looking forward to the opportunity to convey these messages on behalf of the United States government.”

Morrell said Gates will return to Washington after this visit, completing a week that took the secretary to several locations in Afghanistan, as well as to Stuttgart, Germany, and Brussels, Belgium.

“The secretary wishes to and is planning to call upon other governments in this region in the weeks ahead, and will have similar discussion with their leadership as well,” Morrell said.

A senior defense official traveling with Gates told reporters en route to Bahrain the country is an important strategic partner, both as home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet and as an important regional balance to Iran.

A stream of protests has been under way in Bahrain since mid-February, with more planned for today, the official said. Opposition leaders are Shiia Muslims, as is 70 percent of Bahrain’s population, the official added. Bahrain’s royal family and the remaining population are Sunni Muslims.

Opposition leaders have not yet listed their conditions for a national dialogue, but the United States anticipates progress toward that end soon, the official said.

Gates is in Bahrain not to take sides, the official said, but to urge a methodical and substantive reform process. The secretary will “encourage the national dialogue, which the crown prince is heading up, and also encourage the royal family to come into a genuine process for reform,” the official added.

The U.S. message to friends and allies is, “All of the … deep strategic interests we have with them remain the same as they were six months ago,” the official said. “But one of those interests is … stability.”

Protests in Bahrain have been largely peaceful, but U.S. government leaders are closely monitoring events, the official said.

Gates’ position in Bahrain is consistent with the U.S. approach to unrest in the region, the official said.

“Where we’ve been consistent in all these places – Tunisia, Egypt, now Bahrain, Yemen and elsewhere –- is standing up for the universal principles -- freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of access to information, [and] a commitment by all sides to nonviolence,” the official said.

Shift in Middle East Requires U.S. Engagement

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2011 – The United States must remain engaged in the broader Middle East, where recent events have altered the strategic landscape, a senior military commander told the Senate Armed Services Committee today.

Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, testified before the committee today on conditions within Centcom’s area of responsibility, which encompasses not only Afghanistan and Pakistan but 18 other nations including Bahrain, Egypt, Iran and Yemen.

Popular uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and elsewhere, Mattis said, demonstrate “the aspirations of people seeking improved economic and social conditions.”

“While the long-term impact of this unrest is unknown, it presents as many opportunities as it does challenges,” the general said. “The changes that we are seeing will manifest differently in each country. People are seeking their rights, and for the most part doing so peacefully and bravely.”

Sustained military-to-military engagement is essential to the United States building common cause with its friends in the region, Mattis said.

“It is important that we work today with the people and the governments throughout the region,” he said. “We don’t want to see this change slide into a new form of authoritarianism.”

While each nation marked by recent civil unrest is different, the Centcom commander said, “We remain committed to strengthening our military bonds and advancing our mutual interests in peace and opportunity for all.”

Egypt has proven the benefit of mature military-to-military relationships, he said.

“The Egyptian armed forces continue to demonstrate exceptional discipline and restraint under trying circumstances,” Mattis said. “As [Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] recently noted, our assistance has helped the Egyptian military become the professional force that it is today, just as our military has learned a great deal from our Egyptian counterparts, who have contributed a stabilizing influence in this time of transition.”

The United States cannot achieve its broader objectives in the Middle East through military means alone, Mattis told committee members.

“Our efforts require coordination and a spirit of collaboration between highly integrated civilian-military teams,” he said. “Our civilian colleagues need your full support, even in this difficult fiscal environment, to undertake their essential role in today’s complex environment.”

The general said robust resourcing for the State Department is an investment in reducing the need for military forces.

“Together, our military leaders and our diplomats not only represent a symbol of America’s enduring commitment to the region, but they also build trust through partnerships that have an important stabilizing effect when trouble looms,” Mattis said.

Middle East Revolutions Undermine al-Qaida, Iran

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2011 – Al-Qaida and Iran are the biggest losers in the wave of reform sweeping North Africa and the Middle East, top Defense Department leaders said here today.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon press briefing that they are optimistic about the changes taking place in the region.

“I think, first of all, the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and the protests elsewhere that are leading to reforms for a number of governments are an extraordinary set back for al-Qaida,” the secretary said. “It, basically, gives the lie to al-Qaida’s claim that the only way to get rid of authoritarian governments is through extremist violence.”

The people of the region are proving this is not the case, he said.

Gates went on to say he believes the wave of reform is a set-back for Iran. “The contrast of the behaviors of the militaries in Tunisia and Egypt and, except for a brief flurry of violence, in Bahrain, contrast vividly with the savage repression that the Iranians have taken against anyone who dares to demonstrate in their country,” he said.

It will take months or years before the full consequences of the revolutions are known, Gates said.

Still, a “process of change has begun,” he said. “And the prospect for that change, particularly if it is carried out without violence, as has been the case in several of these countries, and gives rise to democratic governments, I think it is a gain, first of all, for the peoples of the region, but ultimately a gain for everybody.”

The admiral said he shares Gates’ optimism because he saw the effect first hand last week when he visited seven countries in the Arabian Gulf region. “One of the reasons I share the optimism is because in each country, it is clearly about the people of that country,” he said. “It’s been about change inside those countries.”

All nations will have to adjust to these changes, the chairman said, and the relationships will change too. “I’m optimistic that there is a chance for stability and opportunity that just didn’t exist as recently as four weeks ago,” he said.

Still, Libya remains a problem and the U.S. military is working to give President Barack Obama options as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi attempts to end the revolt by killing demonstrators, Gates said.

The secretary has ordered the USS Kearsarge and the USS Ponce – now in the Red Sea – to the Mediterranean. The Navy vessels “will provide us with capability for both emergency evacuations and humanitarian operations,” he said.

The Kearsarge delivered 1,400 Marines to Afghanistan and was serving as the U.S. Central Command reserve force. To augment the Marines remaining on the ship, Gates ordered 400 Marines from the United States in support of the Kearsarge’s mission.

“We are obviously looking at a lot of options and contingencies, but no decisions have been made on any other actions,’ the secretary said. “I would note that the U.N. Security Council resolution provides no authorization for the use of armed force, and there is no unanimity within NATO for the use of armed force.”

Mullen Continues Middle East Trip in Qatar

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

DOHA, Qatar, Feb. 21, 2011 – The top U.S. military officer arrived here in the Qatari capital today, continuing his weeklong trip through the Middle East after concluding what he called frank, reassuring talks with leaders in Saudi Arabia about widespread regional unrest.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters concern about violence surrounding many of the pro-democratic movements that have rippled through the region – and how Iran might exert its power in the process – dominated his talks today with Saudi political and military leaders.

The chairman emphasized that he does not believe Iran played a role in toppling the regimes of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak or in stirring up other protest movements. “These are, by and large, internal issues, as opposed to issues fomented by some external force,” he said.

But nonetheless, Mullen said, the United States and its allies in the region are wary that Iran might use the upheaval as a chance to exert influence. He called Iran “a country that continues to foment instability in the region and take advantage of every opportunity.”

“There are always concerns in this region with Iran. Certainly the United States has them, as well as all the regional players,” he told reporters after concluding today’s meetings in Riyadh. “Certainly that was part of the discussion today with the Saudis.”

In the Saudi capital of Riyadh, the chairman met with Prince Mohammed bin Niyif, assistant interior minister for security affairs; Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, commander of Saudi Arabia’s national guard; Prince Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, assistant defense and aviation minister for military affairs; and Lt. Gen. Qubail, deputy chief of the general staff. He also met with U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James Smith and his staff.

Mullen said his talks focused largely on the tumult in Bahrain, where a violent weekend left many anti-government protestors dead. “Obviously the Saudis, in particular -- but everybody in the region -- is watching what’s happening in Bahrain very closely,” he said.

The Saudi government, concerned that whatever happens there could spill over to Saudi Arabia’s eastern province, has expressed support for Bahrain’s ruling Khalifa family and sent a warning to Iran.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands with all its capabilities behind the state and the brotherly people of Bahrain,” the government-run Saudi Press Agency announced in a statement. Saudi Arabia expressed “absolute rejection” of foreign tampering in Bahrain’s affairs.

Mullen credited Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa’s decision not to use force against the protestors and to begin a national dialogue to address their issues with bringing about an apparent reduction in violence iover the last 36 hours in Bahrain. “He has taken some significant, positive steps from a leadership standpoint … to resolve the grievances and the concerns,” the chairman said.

The chairman arrived here today for the second leg of a trip that also includes stops in United Arab Emirates, Djibouti and Kuwait, and possibly Bahrain.

Tonight in Doha, Mullen will be the guest of honor at a dinner hosted by Maj. Gen. Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah, the Qatari armed forces’ chief of staff. He has meetings slated tomorrow with Sheikh bin Hamad al Thani, ruling emir of Qatar since 1995.

From there, Mullen is slated to travel to United Arab Emirates, where he will meet with leaders and attend the International Defense Exposition and Conference in Abu Dhabi. Later this week, he will visit Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, then will conclude his trip in Kuwait with ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of its liberation during Operation Desert Storm.

Although the visit had been long-scheduled, Mullen told reporters traveling with him, its context changed dramatically in light current events. He dismissed the notion that his trip shows the United States is taking sides in regional conflicts, emphasizing the importance of peaceful resolution to the current situation in the strategically important Gulf region.

“We have a longstanding relationship with the leaders in these countries,” he said, noting his own close ties with their military leaders. “That doesn’t mean we don’t all share concern about what has happened and look to the future,” he said. “It is really important that we reaffirm the relationship” and evaluate “what has occurred and how we are going to look to the future together.”

The chairman said he would press throughout his trip for all sides in these situations to show restraint as they work through their differences.

“We certainly would like to see whatever happens happen in a nonviolent way -- that where there are differences, they be resolved nonviolently, and that governments and their people figure this out,” he said.

Meanwhile, in response to a reporter’s question, Mullen expressed no particular concern about Egypt’s decision to allow Iranian warships to pass through the Suez Canal. Noting that he has transited the canal himself more than once, the chairman said it’s an issue for Egypt, which controls the canal, to address.

“It is really for the government of Egypt and the government of Iran to work that out,” he said.