The author of the article, Seymour Hersh, alleges that when Primakov was the Russian foreign minister in 1997, he received the money from Iraq's deputy prime minister. 12 Primakov has maintained a friendship with Iraq's Saddam Hussein since the 1960s, when the Russian was in the Middle East as a journalist for the Russian newspaper Pravda . In response to the article's allegations, U.S. National Security Advisor Sandy Berger stated that he had no proof of the charges. The Russian embassy in Washington has also denied the allegations. 13 Russia is reviving arms shipments to Egypt.
Plans call for furnishing antiaircraft and radar systems to the Egyptian air force.
Russia will also send specialists to assist the Egyptian army in upgrading its obsolete Soviet weaponry. The many Middle Eastern countries that Russia has formed relationships with are Islamic. In fact, Muslims constitute the second largest religious group in Russia next to the Christian Orthodox. Islam is the dominating religion in the countries that surround Israel. In its radical form, Islam spells destruction for Israel and anything Jewish.