The Biden administration is releasing nearly $200 million in military aid to Egypt but will hold back millions more over human rights concerns, the State Department said Tuesday in an announcement quickly criticized by rights groups and some lawmakers.
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The department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would withhold $130 million of $300 million in military financing for Egypt due to the concerns. It said he would allow the rest go through to preserve US-Egypt security engagement that Washington believes is critical to Mideast stability.
The $170 million to be released will be sent using authority the administration has to waive human rights conditions placed on the assistance by Congress. Under federal law, the secretary of state must certify that Egypt is meeting those conditions or issue a waiver for the aid to be sent.
The department said Blinken was unable to certify compliance but added that continued engagement with Egypt is a critical US national security interest. The decision was criticized by human rights groups and some lawmakers as an indication the Biden administration is reneging on pledges to put human rights at the center of its foreign policy.
"Because we are continuing to discuss our serious concerns about human rights in Egypt, the secretary of state will not certify that the government of Egypt is taking sustained and effective steps related to the legislative human rights-related conditions" on the aid, the department said.
Nonetheless it said the administration would provide the majority of the assistance for border security, nonproliferation and counterterrorism programs while withholding the remaining $130 million. The withheld amount will be released "if the government of Egypt affirmatively addresses specific human-rights related conditions," the department said.
