No need to amend Camp David, Cairo says

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UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A spokesman for Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said a long-standing peace agreement with Israel doesn't require amendments.

Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel. The Camp David Accords, named after the U.S. presidential retreat in Maryland, limit the number of troops Egypt can deploy in the Sinai Peninsula.

An attack by militants in the Sinai Peninsula last month left 16 Egyptian soldiers dead. Morsi ordered military forces to the region, where the security situation has remained tense since last year's revolution.

Morsi's spokesman Yasser Ali said Cairo has the ability to maintain security in the Sinai Peninsula and there's no need to amend the Camp David treaty, reports Egyptian news agency al-Ahram.

Military forces, he added, would continue their deployment under Operation Eagle until security is restored to the region.

A presidential adviser had recommended Morsi address the Camp David treaty, though Ali said the aide wasn't speaking in an official capacity.

Morsi addressed the U.N. General Assembly this week, the first for a democratically elected leader of Egypt.