Muslim Brotherhood threatens to use US aid cutoff as pretext to breach treaty with Israel
Yet another cold prickly that won't give you warm fuzzies about President Obama's treatment of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak a year ago. The Muslim Brotherhood is threatening to use any cutoff of US aid as a pretext to abrogate its treaty with Israel. And a poll says 70% of Egyptians are saying "right on." El-Erian told the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat that the US needs to understand that "what was acceptable before the revolution is no longer," and that should the aid provisions outlined in the treaty be modified, it could open the door to further changes in the agreement.And you thought beggars can't be choosers, didn't you?
A Gallup poll released last week found 71 percent of Egyptians oppose US economic aid to their country, and a similar percentage oppose Washington sending direct aid to civil society groups.
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The poll found Egyptians are just as likely to support aid from fellow Arab states as they are to oppose it from the US. But Fayza Abouelnaga, Egypt's minister of planning and international cooperation, noted recently that her country had received only $500 million of the $3.7 billion promised by Saudi Arabia, $500 million of the $1.5 billion pledged by Qatar and none of the $3 billion promised by the United Arab Emirates. Abouelnaga said in December that Egypt's foreign debt had reached $34.4 billion, representing 15% of its gross domestic product.
Half of respondents said they would be willing to accept aid from international institutions. Last week Egypt's military and political leaders initially rejected an offer of $3.2 billion in support from the International Monetary Fund, but later said they had changed their minds.
In signs the dispute could worsen, Egyptian authorities detained an Australian journalist and an American student on Saturday on suspicion they had distributed cash to workers and incited them to take part in a strike called by activists demanding an end to army rule.What could go wrong?
US military aid to Egypt accounts for about 25 percent of Egypt's defense spending per year. Egypt's defense budget was $4.56 billion in 2010 - the third-largest in the Middle East after Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Labels: Egypt, Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, Muslim Brotherhood, US foreign aid
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:12 AM
2 Comments:
The Egyptians and their Muslim Bros can't be bought when it comes to their human right to kill Jews and rip women up in the streets from the inside! @Sandmonkey, got just what you and the google dudes wanted, eh? Right when the military strikes start, be sure you and your marxist cabal jump out of there and leave all the little people to be slaughtered! It's freedom, man!
PS The "you" I was ranting about in previous comment is "@Sandmonkey"... not clear in now re-reading.
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