The United States will deduct EGP 2.5 billion (USD 130 million) from Egypt’s EGP 5.7 billion (USD 300 million) annual foreign military aid due to the Biden administration’s concerns over Egypt’s human rights conditions, according to an unnamed US official interviewed by Reuters. Despite acknowledgement by US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, over Egypt’s recent trends in releasing hundreds of detainees and prisoners, the US official explained that certain human rights conditions are yet to be met amid pressures from US-based human rights lobbyists. The human rights groups campaigned for a complete block in military aid, citing cases of torture and forced disappearances. Despite the lobbying, the US official told Reuters that US State Department lawyers concluded that no more than 10 percent of the US’s annual EGP 25 billion (USD 1.3 billion) aid could be withheld. Since 1978, the US has provided Egypt’s military with over EGP 945 billion (USD 50 billion) in military aid, placing Egypt’s army as one of the top three most funded militaries by the US. Recent military assistance between the two countries comes in light of counter-terrorist operations over the past decade, a matter…
US Deducts $130 Million From Egypt’s Military Aid Over Human Rights
September 17, 2022
