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Egypt Lashes Out At U.S. Over Military Aid Suspension

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  • Egypt Lashes Out At U.S. Over Military Aid Suspension

    EGYPT LASHES OUT AT U.S. OVER MILITARY AID SUSPENSION

    October 10, 2013 - 14:04 AMT

    PanARMENIAN.Net - The Obama administration on Wednesday, Oct 9,
    announced a modest and temporary freeze on military assistance to
    Egypt, even as American officials emphasized their desire to avoid
    rupturing a security relationship that stretches back more than three
    decades, The New York Times reports.

    To signal its displeasure at the Egyptian military's bloody crackdown
    on the Muslim Brotherhood, officials said, the United States would
    withhold the delivery of several big-ticket items, including Apache
    attack helicopters, Harpoon missiles, M1-A1 tank parts and F-16
    warplanes, as well as $260 million for the general Egyptian budget.

    But in a sign of how the administration is balancing its interests,
    senior officials said the United States would continue aid for
    counterterrorism programs as well as for Egypt's efforts to protect
    its borders and secure Sinai, which has become a haven for extremists.

    In announcing the decision, administration officials reiterated that
    the Egyptian military's brutal repression of supporters of the ousted
    president, Mohamed Morsi, was not acceptable. But in explaining their
    specific steps, American officials sounded as if they were reaffirming
    a valuable relationship rather than delivering a rebuke.

    "This is not meant to be permanent; this is meant to be the opposite,"
    a senior administration official said. "It is meant to be continually
    reviewed." Still, the official added, "it's fair to say that holding
    up hundreds of millions of dollars of assistance is a pretty clear
    message."

    "We will continue to hold the delivery of certain large-scale military
    systems and cash assistance to the government pending credible progress
    toward an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government through
    free and fair elections," state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said,
    according to BBC News.

    Among the assistance that will be untouched, officials said, are
    programs to train and educate Egyptian military officials in the
    United States; the delivery of spare parts for many American-supplied
    weapons; and aid for health care, education and the promotion of
    business in Egypt.

    Egypt has criticized the decision. Foreign ministry spokesman Badr
    Abdelatty said the decision was wrong and Egypt would "not surrender
    to American pressure and is continuing on its path towards democracy".


    From: Baghdasarian
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