US lawmaker blocks $450M million aid to Egypt

29 September 2012 | 20:02 Code : 1907388 Latest Headlines

A US lawmaker has blocked the transfer of $450 million in appropriated American foreign aid to Egypt, saying she is not certain whether Egypt is in “urgent need” of the money.

Republican Congresswoman from Texas Kay Granger, who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, announced in a statement on Friday that she would place a hold on the distribution of the promised funds, adding that the US relationship with Egypt “has never been under more scrutiny” than it is in the wake of the election of President Mohamed Morsi, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“This proposal comes to Congress at a point when the US-Egypt relationship has never been under more scrutiny, and rightly so. I am not convinced of the urgent need for this assistance and I cannot support it at this time. I have placed a hold on these funds,” Granger said in the statement issued by her office.

The aid is reportedly part of about $1 billion in debt relief aid that US President Barack Obama had promised Egypt earlier in the year as an effort to bolster its transition to democracy following the 2011 overthrow of former US-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Its outcome, however, has been challenged by some American administration officials and lawmakers over concerns about the policies of the democratically-elected government of Egypt and, more recently, the massive anti-American protests in reaction to the publication of a US-made anti-Islam film.

Earlier, Obama publicly declared in a televised interview that Egypt is neither a US ally nor an enemy. Moreover, some lawmakers in the US Congress have even called for cutting off aid to the major Arab country.

Earlier this week, Republican nominee for the upcoming US presidential election, Mitt Romney, censured incumbent President Obama for allowing Egyptians to elect a president from Muslim Brotherhood.

In a campaign rally on Monday, Romney attacked Obama for the latter’s description of the recent surge of anti-Americanism in the Middle East as “bumps in the road.”

“Bumps in the road?” Romney asked. “We had an ambassador assassinated. We had a Muslim Brotherhood elect a member, elected to the presidency of Egypt,” he added.

The United States provides Egypt with $1.55 billion annually - $250 million in economic aid and $1.3 billion in military aid. It also gives away over $3 billion in annual economic and military aid to the Israeli regime in addition to numerous other occasional grants and loan packages.

Meanwhile, a senior US State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, has reportedly stated that the administration would work with the Congress in the next days and weeks to make the case that the budget is in US interests.