Sep 5, 2019

The State Department has approved the release of the full $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt despite the Trump administration’s admission that Cairo has actively prevented civil dissent and cut down on democratic reforms.

In a memo sent to Congress and obtained by Al-Monitor, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo waived human rights conditions that apply to $300 million in US aid, calling the Arab nation “important to the national security interests of the United States” for providing access to the Suez Canal, overflight rights and fighting terror in the Sinai desert and along its borders with Libya and Sudan.

The US aid, known as foreign military financing, was due to expire Sept. 30 without a State Department waiver. In releasing the assistance, the State Department acknowledged that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has restricted freedom of expression since the former general was reelected in 2018 after forcing most opposition candidates from the race.

But strict limits on civil liberties have not impacted Egypt’s relationship with the US administration. Just weeks after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in April, Sisi’s backers in the Egyptian parliament approved constitutional changes that will allow the sitting president to stay in power until 2030, and expand his control over the judiciary.

Speaking to reporters alongside Sisi before at meeting at the G-7 summit in France last month, Trump called the Egyptian leader a “friend of mine now a long time,” continuing a steady stream of praise dating back to the 2016 presidential campaign.