“That [Egypt is] continuing to stonewall and obfuscate and pursue this course of action [regarding military relations with North Korea] indicates they think they can get away with it, and whatever price will be imposed on them will be bearable.”

“The fact that several of these would-be candidates came from the military was even more apparently threatening to him, and so using a variety of measures…the Egyptian authorities have managed to…disqualify [them] on very shaky grounds.”

“He was erratic, conspiratorial in nature and harbored a lot of anti-American suspicions. He believes that the 2011 uprising was the result of an external conspiracy rather than internal upheaval.”

“The public remarks in which the US government expresses concern are a necessary precondition. It serves as a signal of how much we care about the status of those individuals. It also helps to create a sense within Egypt that this is a real problem.”