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Congress seeks to lift last restrictions on aid to Egypt

The US House foreign aid bill eliminates previous requirements that Egypt hold "free and fair" parliamentary elections and take steps to foster democracy and protect human rights before $1.3 billion in military aid can be released.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri (R) listens as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks about Iraq during a joint news conference in Cairo June 22, 2014. Kerry said on Sunday the United States wanted Iraqis to find an inclusive leadership to contain a sweeping Islamist insurgency but Washington would not pick or choose who rules in Baghdad. Kerry was speaking at the start of a Middle East tour after talks in Cairo with Egypt's new President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi which covered Western concerns over Eg

WASHINGTON — Purse-string holders in the US House released a foreign aid bill June 2 that removes human rights restrictions on assistance to Egypt, the latest sign that the United States is casting its lot with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi despite lingering concerns.

The proposed appropriations bill eliminates previous requirements that Egypt hold "free and fair" parliamentary elections and take steps to foster democracy and protect human rights before $1.3 billion in military aid can be released. Doing so would in effect revert US bilateral assistance to the way it was under strongman Hosni Mubarak, with Egypt only required to sustain its strategic relationship with the United States and uphold its peace treaty with Israel.

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