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Intel: Congress pushes back against Pentagon plan to withdraw US forces from Egypt’s Sinai

Congress is using a key defense bill to push back against Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s reported plans to withdraw US peacekeeping forces from Egypt’s Sinai.
FILE PHOTO: An Egyptian military vehicle is seen on the highway in northern Sinai, Egypt, May 25, 2015.   To match Special Report EGYPT-POLITICS/SINAI      REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih/File Photo - RC17BB4CC790

Congress is using a key defense bill to push back against Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s reported plans to withdraw US peacekeeping forces from Egypt’s Sinai.

The Senate’s annual defense authorization bill would require Esper “to notify Congress 30 days before reducing the total number of members of the armed forces deployed to the Multinational Force and Observers in Egypt to fewer than 430 members,” according to a summary of the legislation released today.

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