US military aid to Egypt under scrutiny on uprising’s anniversary
The Donald Trump administration has taken a harder line on military assistance to Egypt as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi moves away from Washington.
US President Donald Trump came into office promising to improve relations with Egypt, praising President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the campaign trail and inviting the former military leader to the White House just months after taking office.
But after more than a year of cajoling Egypt to stop cracking down on civil society groups, the White House has been taking a harder line ahead of the seventh anniversary of the Jan. 25, 2011, uprising that toppled longtime President Hosni Mubarak. The State Department suspended more than $200 million in military aid in September and has called out Cairo’s human rights violations.
Meanwhile, Congress has continued to impose greater scrutiny on the annual $1.3 billion security assistance package ever since the military killed hundreds of protesters following President Mohammed Morsi’s ouster in 2013. During his visit to Cairo last weekend, Vice President Mike Pence notably demanded that Egypt release US citizens Ahmed Etwiy and Mustafa Kassem, arrested during protests four years ago.
“We truly believe that justice demands that those Americans be permitted to come home,” Pence said at a press conference before departing Cairo. “And I made that case very strongly to President al-Sisi.”
