Washington: The US will resume suspended military aid to Egypt, the White House said on Tuesday, signalling the Obama administration’s eagerness to help a key Middle Eastern ally confront militant threats despite concerns about its stance on human rights.
Following a lengthy internal review, the Obama administration said it would continue to request the annual $1.3 billion (Dh4.7 billion) in military financing that the US has provided in the past to Egypt, the second-largest recipient of US military support after Israel.
But in a sign that Washington seeks to exercise tighter strings over aid for a government it had condemned for harsh treatment of dissidents, the US will no longer allow Egypt to purchase military equipment on credit and will earmark future aid for specific activities related to US counterterrorism goals.
US President Barack Obama, speaking by phone with Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Al Sissi, said the steps would refine the country’s military relationship “so that it is better positioned to address the shared challenges to the US and Egyptian interests in an unstable region,” the White House said in a statement.
The announcement reverses a decision announced in October 2013, several months after a military coup that deposed elected leader Mohammad Mursi, to put a large amount of military aid on hold until Egypt made “credible progress” toward democratic reforms.
Since Al Sissi took power, American officials have been dismayed by his government’s crackdown on supporters of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood and other political opponents.
US officials have repeatedly condemned the widespread arrests of political opponents, the moves to hem in Egypt’s press, and the mass death sentences handed down by Egyptian courts.
A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the decision on the record, acknowledged that US efforts to incentivise reforms by withholding aid had not succeeded as officials had hoped.
“We are not walking away from the promotion of human rights and political reform in Egypt,” the official said. “We’re just trying to make sure Egypt is well equipped to deal with genuine threats to its security, and ours.”
As they look at Egypt, a key partner in a volatile Middle East, US officials feel a sense of urgency to ensure it is not overrun by the same extremist violence consuming much of the region.
Egyptian forces are grappling with mounting insurgent violence in the country’s Sinai Peninsula and with a threat in neighbouring Libya, where militants linked to Daesh executed 21 Egyptian Christians in February. Egypt has also dispatched warships to Yemen as part of a larger Arab assault on Iranian-backed rebels there.
The White House decision will also enable Egypt to obtain valuable military equipment that had been put on hold in 2013, including a dozen F-16 fighter jets, 20 Harpoon missiles and up to 125 US Abrams M1A1 tank kits.
Egyptian officials have, in particular, clamoured for access to the fighter jets. Earlier this year, Egyptian warplanes conducted strikes in Libya in response to the attack on its citizens there.
In April 2014, the White House partially resumed aid to Egypt when it announced the planned delivery of Apache helicopters.
Rep. Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the US should push for reforms, but prioritise protection of the long-standing US alliance with Egypt.
“Providing them with the means to protect Egyptians and Americans from the threat of terrorism is the right thing to do,” he said in a statement.
The administration did not take an additional step that would have signalled more broad backing for Al Sissi.
Rather than waiting until Egypt had taken certain steps that would trigger a “democracy certification” — including holding parliamentary elections, ensuring due process and protecting political and women’s rights — Secretary of State John Kerry instead invoked a legal waiver that allowed him to provide the assistance if it was in the interest of US national security.
Egypt had been expected to hold legislative elections this month, but they were delayed indefinitely after a court declared that part of the country’s electoral law was unconstitutional.
The US official said the move to end the credit financing would put the US in a “much stronger position” to adjust aid to Egypt in the future.
Amy Hawthorne, an Egypt scholar at the Atlantic Council, said the White House’s attempt to bolster security while promoting reform may not succeed. “Like so many things with this administration, it’s a split message, and it’s very confusing,” she said.
US officials said the decision was not linked to the timing of international talks over Iran’s nuclear programme, which have reached a critical juncture in Switzerland. The prospect of improved ties between Washington and Tehran has created deep anxiety among Washington’s traditional Arab allies.
