Egypt on Wednesday protested United States decision to withhold some military aid as a U.S. delegation including presidential adviser Jared Kushner visited Cairo for meetings on the Middle East peace process.
The decision to withhold some financial and military aid came as a surprise after President Donald Trump pledged strong tries with the key US ally after they had deteriorated under his predecessor Barack Obama.
The U.S. delegation met Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Wednesday, his spokesman said, after the meeting had been dropped with no explanation from the minister’s schedule sent to reporters.
The delegation also met President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, his spokesman Alaa Youssef told AFP.
In a statement, the foreign ministry said it “regrets the decision” to reduce some funds allocated under a U.S. assistance programme and withhold the disbursement of other military aid.
It provided no details of the cuts, but US media reports said Washington on Tuesday denied Egypt $96 million in aid and delayed $195 million in military funding because of concerns over its human rights record.
“Egypt considers this step as a misjudgement of the nature of the strategic relations that binds the two countries over decades,” the foreign ministry said.
The move “may have negative repercussions”, it added.
The New York Times quoted the State Department as saying the move followed a lack of progress on human rights and the passing of a new law restricting the activities of non-governmental organisations.
Trump’s arrival in office earlier this year saw an improvement in relations with Egypt after Obama’s cold shoulder to Sisi over rights issues.
Obama temporarily suspended military aid to Egypt after the July 2013 overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and the subsequent bloody crackdown on Morsi’s supporters.
Sisi in May ratified the NGO law, which critics say will severely restrict the work of civil society, including by banning studies without prior permission from the state, with large fines for violations.
Trump set aside criticism of Sisi’s rights record while pledging to maintain support for the key US ally, which receives an annual $1.3 billion in military aid.
Egyptian authorities have been fighting an insurgency in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, where an Islamic State group affiliate has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen.
The Pentagon is also keen to prevent jihadists from crossing Libya’s porous border with Egypt.
AFP
