As Egypt prepares to swear in its fourth leader in the past 3 years, around $1.5 billion in US aid remains suspended amid fears the nation is sliding back into its old authoritarian ways.
Ex. general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will be sworn in as the next president on Sunday after three years of political turmoil since the ousting of long-time iron-fisted leader Hosni Mubarak.
In a sign of Washington´s unease, amid concerns over human rights abuses and a crackdown on civil liberties, no senior US cabinet members will be attending the inauguration, with State Department Counselor Thomas Shannon asked to lead the delegation.
US officials announced in April they planned to resume some military aid to Cairo, suspended late last year, including 10 Apache helicopters for counterterrorism efforts in the Sinai peninsula.
However, the aircraft remain in storage in the US, and a request to release some $650 million of the frozen aid has been put on hold in Congress by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of an appropriations subcommittee.
Leahy said he was “extremely disturbed” by Egypt´s “flouting of human rights” and would not sign off on delivering the aid “until we have a better understanding of how the aid would be used.”
