WASHINGTON Ñ The House of Representatives succumbed to appeals from the Bush administration and maintained the level of U.S. military aid to Egypt.

In a 381 to 46 vote, the House approved a $15.2 billion foreign aid bill for fiscal 2002. The bill provides much of the U.S. foreign aid to Egypt and Israel.

Under the bill, Egypt will receive $1.3 billion in military aid for the year that begins in October, Middle East Newsline reported. Critics of Egypt in the House had attempted to cut military aid to Cairo by $100 million amid U.S. intelligence reports that Cairo has been developing medium- and intermediate-range missiles in cooperation with North Korea.

Economic aid to Egypt was set at $655 million, a decrease of $40 million. Economic aid to Israel was cut by $120 million, half of which was transferred to U.S. military assistance to the Jewish state.

But appeals by the White House and State Department persuaded the critics to end their efforts. Congressional aides said the administration argument was that Egypt is required to maintain the lid on the escalating tensions in the Middle East.

"The choice was whether to waste our political capital on Egypt or seek to help Israel," an aide said. "In the end, we decided this wasn't the right time for an open fight."

Last week, an Egyptian Defense Ministry delegation spent three days in meetings with members of House and Senate defense and Middle East subcommittees in a discussion of Cairo's military needs. The delegation dismissed U.S. intelligence reports of Egyptian-North Korean missile cooperation and refused to discuss Cairo's new military relations with Russia.

Under the foreign aid bill, Israel will obtain $2.04 billion in military aid and $720 million in economic aid. Jordan will receive $225 million in aid. The bill also threatens to impose U.S. sanctions on the PLO unless the Palestinians end attacks on Israelis.

Print this Article

Email this article

Free Headline Alerts