Salon.com @Salon U.S. allows export of 140,000 tear gas canisters to Egypt -- after "Made in USA" labels removed http://slnm.us/mAURttM Collapse Reply Retweet Favorite Buffer More 55RETWEETS 7FAVORITES 5:18 p.m. - Feb 22, 2013 · Details EnlargeEgyptian riot police vehicles secure the entrance of the Qasr al-Kobba palace, one of the president's secondary residences amid tear gas during clashes with protesters following an-anti president Mohammed Morsi protest, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. Several thousand hard-line Islamists rallied in Cairo on Friday against a recent wave of violent anti-government protests, while liberal activists staged a smaller demonstration across town to call for accountability and justice from the country's leaders. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)(Credit: AP) Just as U.S.-made tear gas was used against protesters by Egyptian security forces under Hosni Mubarak, the U.S. government continues to permit hundreds of thousands of canisters to imported to Egypt for profligate use under Mohammed Morsi. "In January, the Interior Ministry ordered the import of 140,000 teargas canisters from the United States," Egypt Independent reported this week. According to the English-language publication, a memo from the Egyptian police's Major General Magdy al-Gohary indicated that the U.S. government only okayed the permit for the tear gas import when "the company's name and country of origin" were removed from the canisters. During the Arab Spring, pictures from Tahrir Square of empty canister brandished with "made in the USA" logos garnered viral attention and international outrage as protesters reportedly suffocated in excessive tear gas fumes and were directly struck by canisters. Egypt Independent cited the Major General's memo as reading: The permit from the US government was obtained after removing the company's name...
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