August 9th, 2010 by Jennifer

Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm has run stories on two key policy decisions that occurred in Congress in recent weeks: the referral of a Senate resolution in support of human rights in Egypt to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs; and the Senate Budget Committee’s decision to reduce funds to be made available to the administration for democracy promotion in Egypt in FY11, from the $25 million requested to only $20 million. The first article observes that “the resolution was based on the premise that support for regimes that do not respect human rights serves to jeopardize the credibility of the US,” while the second piece notes that “observers say the move [to cut funding for democracy] reflects a trend within the U.S. administration to reduce pressure on the Egyptian regime to carry out political reforms and promote civil liberties,” mentioning that Congress has earmarked $250 million in regular economic aid to Egypt and $1.3 billion in military aid.

Posted in Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Publications |