WASHINGTON — The United States yesterday (Oct 9) cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to its Mideast ally Egypt, responding to the military ouster last summer of the nation’s first democratically elected president and the crackdown on protesters that has sunk the country into violent turmoil.
While the State Department did not provide a dollar amount of what was being withheld, most of it is linked to military aid. In all, the US provides US$1.5 billion (S$1.9 billion) in aid each year to Egypt.
Officials said the aid being withheld included 10 Apache helicopters at a cost of about US$500 million, F-16 fighter jets, M1A1 tank kits and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The US also is withholding US$260 million in cash assistance to the government until “credible progress” is made toward an inclusive government set up through free and fair elections.
Washington had already suspended the delivery of four F-16 fighter jets and cancelled biennial US-Egyptian military exercises.
In Cairo, military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Mohammed Ali declined immediate comment. Before the announcement, General Abdel Fattah El Sissi, the Egyptian military leader, described his country’s relations with the United States as “strategic” and founded on mutual interests. But he told the Cairo daily, Al Masry Al Youm, in an interview published yesterday that Egypt would not tolerate pressure, “whether through actions or hints”.
Neighbouring Israel also has indicated concern. The Israelis consider the US aid to Egypt to be important support for the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.
The State Department stressed that the long-standing US partnership with Egypt would continue and that it sees the aid decision as temporary. Still, the decision puts ties between the US and Egypt at their rockiest point in more than three decades.
The US will continue to provide support for health and education and counterterrorism, spare military parts, military training and education, border security and security assistance in the Sinai Peninsula where near-daily attacks against security forces and soldiers have increasingly resembled a full-fledged insurgency.
The US officials providing the details did so only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment by name.
Other details about what military assistance is being cut were not immediately known, and the State Department declined to give an indication of how severe the impact of the cuts in assistance might be in Egypt.
Senator Patrick Leahy, who chairs the Senate Appropriations panel that funds US assistance to Egypt, criticised the Obama administration’s action as too little.
Others, including some sharp political opponents of Mr Obama on other subjects, supported the president’s decision.
Sen Rand Paul, whose bill to halt aid to Egypt was roundly defeated in the Senate in July, said he was happy to see the administration “finally thinking about following the law”.
Administration officials, on a conference call to brief reporters on the decision, said Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel talked on the phone yesterday with Gen El Sissi, who led the military effort that ousted Mr Morsi. They said the conversation was cordial, professional and ended on a positive tone.
But the decision certainly creates new friction in Washington’s already uneasy relations with the government that ousted Mr Morsi. And the consequences won’t end there. The move will anger Persian Gulf states, push Egypt to seek assistance from US rivals and upend decades of close ties with the Egyptians that have been a bulwark of stability in the Middle East.
Egypt gives the United States permission to fly over its territory to supply American troops in the Gulf, allows the US to move troops and materiel through the Suez Canal without delay and cooperates with American intelligence agencies. It is unclear if cooperation on these fronts will be affected by the aid decision.
The US has been considering such a move since July, when the Egyptian military ousted Mr Morsi. Ensuing violence between authorities and Mr Morsi supporters has killed hundreds. The scheduled Nov 4 trial of Mr Morsi on charges that he incited the killings of opponents while in office and the US decision to cut its aid to Egypt threaten to add to the turmoil.
The cutoff of some, but not all, US aid also underscores the strategic shifts underway in the region as US allies in the Gulf forge ahead with policies at odds with Washington. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, are strong backers of Syrian rebel factions and were openly dismayed when the US set aside possible military strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government. The Gulf states also feel increasingly sidelined as Washington reaches out to their rival, Iran.
Iran had moved quickly to heal long-strained ties with Egypt following Mr Morsi’s election but now is redirecting its policies with Egyptian leaders who don’t share Tehran’s agenda.
US aid to the Egyptians has a long history. Since the late 1970s, the country has been the second-largest recipient — after Israel — of US bilateral foreign assistance, largely as a way to sustain the 1979 Egypt-Israeli peace treaty.
The United States gave Egypt US$71.6 billion in assistance between 1948 and 2011, according to a Congressional Research Service report issued in June. That included US$1.3 billion a year in military aid since 1987. The rest was economic assistance, some going to the government, some to other groups.
Egypt has other allies who may be able to fill the financial void. In fact, Saudi Arabia and some of its Gulf Arab partners have provided a critical financial lifeline for Egypt’s new government, pledging at least US$12 billion so far and aiding in regional crackdowns on Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
On Monday, Egypt’s interim president, Mr Adly Mansour, visited Saudi Arabia on his first foreign trip in a sign of the importance of the Gulf aid and political backing. AP
From my point of view from this news. I don’t understand why, must they do such a violence issue to their country. I mean they are some innocent human, trying to live each of their lives. And just over small matter and they make it big and then create a war against them. Can there be some discussion over a video call so that at least there won’t be any misunderstanding and so the war too wouldn’t have to start or just to kill them. I mean it’s very childish war, what all of us hope that we could change for a better life, a life where no misunderstanding. Peace No War Thank You!! We all want a peaceful life no some childish things over small issue.. Well that’s about it for today! Thank you for reading!
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