Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian General (ret.) Abd Al-Hamid Umran, which aired on ON TV on August 21, 2011:

Abd Al-Hamid Umran: The Camp David Accord is like a treaty of surrender in the civil sense, when one party holds all the power, and the other party wants to resolve the problem in any possible way. The outcome was the Camp David Accord. Back then, this is what our political and military capabilities enabled us to achieve. President Sadat wanted to get them out of Sinai in any way possible.

Interviewer: So we were the ones who wanted to resolve the problem, while they held all the power.

Abd Al-Hamid Umran: Not all the power, but relatively speaking…

Interviewer: They were stronger…

Abd Al-Hamid Umran: Yes.

Interviewer: Therefore, this treaty of surrender serves their interests more than ours.

Abd Al-Hamid Umran: Therefore, now that we have become more powerful – and we all hope to become even stronger – we have the right to demand that this treaty be changed, in accordance with our interests. Similarly, it is in their interest not to take this too far, because this might drive us in another direction. I would like to reiterate, and this may be the 20th time I say this: There can be no Egyptian national security without an Egyptian nuclear program. Full stop.

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This will restore the balance of power. Forget about all those minor battles, forget about the occupation, forget about the five people killed, may they rest in peace. All this stems from our lack of strategic power, which would counterbalance the strategic power of Israel. This begins with a nuclear program for peaceful purposes. It could require 5-10 years, whatever it takes, but eventually, we will have enriched uranium. Obviously, enriched uranium requires many ploys and tricks. They tell you that it is okay to enrich to 3%, but not to 5%. This way we will have the 3%, and then we can leave…

Interviewer: We can play the Iranian game…

Abd Al-Hamid Umran: Exactly. That's what Iran is doing.

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The UN's atomic energy committee allows you to enrich uranium to 3%-5%. This can be used for many civilian purposes. That's fine with me. In order to achieve 3% enriched uranium, I need, say, 100 centrifuges. So I install the 100 centrifuges, and eventually, I get uranium enriched to 3%. I need a large quantity, so I install 10 production lines, one next to the other, each with 100 centrifuges. I get uranium enriched to 3% from each and every one, and when the UN comes to inspect, they see that everything is on the up and up. The moment the UN inspectors get out… We shut the door, we take the output of the first production line, and we insert it into the input of the second production line.

Interviewer: That gives you 6%...

Abd Al-Hamid Umran: Right. Then you take the output of the second and insert it into the input of the third – and then the third to the fourth, to the fifth, to the sixth… That way, after the inspectors go to sleep, you can enrich 20%.

Interviewer: You've turned us into an Iran.

Abd Al-Hamid Umran: 20% is only the first stage, because a nuclear weapon requires…

Interviewer: The international inspectors will be oblivious to all this? Will this ploy work on the international inspectors?

Abd Al-Hamid Umran: You should look at the details. When the inspectors go to Iran, they stand in front of the centrifuge cascades, behind a chain barrier that the Iranians placed there. The Iranians say to them: "This is the output of that cascade." When the inspectors say that they want to go in and see the actual connections, the Iranians don't let them.

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