WASHINGTON — Congress has rejected efforts to reduce U.S. military
aid to Egypt.
A House subcommittee spared Egypt of cuts in foreign aid for fiscal
2007. Under a bill passed by the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee on
May 19, Egypt would receive $1.3 billion in military aid and $400 million in
economic aid, the same as current U.S. assistance, Middle East Newsline reported.
"Fifty million dollars of this assistance is set aside for political
reform programs and $50 million is provided for education initiatives," a
House statement said. "Continues previous reforms that limit expenditures of
funds until Egypt implements financial sector reforms."
Egypt receives the second largest amount of U.S. assistance. Israel
receives $2.3 billion in U.S. military aid per year.
The approval by the House panel for U.S. aid to Cairo took place one day
after the State Department expressed concern over the continued Egyptian
detention of opposition leader Ayman Nour. The department also criticized
police
violence against pro-democracy protesters.
Last week, the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia
debated whether to reduce or transfer U.S. military aid to Egypt. The Bush
administration warned that any cut would endanger strategic relations
between Cairo and Washington.
Congressional sources said U.S. aid to Egypt would be examined when the
foreign aid bill reaches the full House Appropriations Committee in June.
The Senate has not registered opposition to military aid to Cairo.
Under the House foreign aid bill, U.S. allies would receive $21.3
billion for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The bill, which marked an
increase of three percent over 2006, called for a nearly 10 percent
reduction from the foreign aid level requested by the Bush administration.
The House Foreign Operations Subcommittee rejected the administration's
request for $749 million for stabilization programs for Iraq. Instead, the
panel approved $522 million, $461 million over that allocated for 2006.
Under the bill, the Palestinians would not receive $150 million
requested by the administration for economic aid to the West Bank and Gaza
Strip. Instead, the subcommittee approved $80 million in humanitarian
assistance to the Palestinians.
"But funds may not be used to support Hamas," the House statement said.
