WASHINGTON — The
US State Department approved Tuesday two major military equipment sales to Egypt of
transport aircraft and radar systems, despite ongoing concerns in Washington
over Cairo's human rights record.
اضافة اعلان
The sale of 12 C-130 J Super Hercules
transports and accompanying equipment is worth $2.2 billion.
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency
said the sale, still not finalized, "will improve Egypt's capability
to meet current and future threats by providing airlift support for its forces
by moving supplies, equipment, and people."
The aircraft can also be used for maritime
patrol and rescue missions, it added.
In a second deal, Egypt can buy ground-based
air defense systems worth $355 million to help it fend off air threats.
The deals come despite ongoing unease in
Washington over Egyptian President
Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi's tough treatment of
political opponents, with rights groups estimating that Egypt holds about
60,000 political prisoners.
In September, the State Department put a
hold on $130 million in military aid already budgeted for Egypt because of lack
of improvement in the human rights situation in the country.
And in early November, Secretary of State
Antony Blinken urged Egypt in bilateral talks to make "tangible and
lasting improvements" on human rights.
But for fiscal year 2022, which began on
October 1, 2021, the Biden administration budgeted $1.4 billion in bilateral
assistance — most of it military related — for Cairo, the same as the previous
year.
Two lawmakers who have been critical of US
arms sales to Egypt said Tuesday that Egypt has not met the conditions required
to remove the suspension on the frozen $130 million.
"We welcome the recent release of
several high-profile Egyptian political prisoners," said
Don Beyer and
Tom Malinowski, co-chairs of Congress' Egypt Human Rights Caucus.
However, they said it was not enough and
urged Biden to keep the freeze on the aid.
"Tens of thousands of political
prisoners... remain in Egyptian prisons," they said in a statement.
"The government of Egypt has continued
to engage in widespread torture, suppression of dissent, and even persecution
of American citizens and the families of critics living in the United
States," they added.
The two arms deals also gained approval
nearly three weeks after US authorities arrested a New York man accused of
spying on political opponents of Sisi.
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