US poised to lift curbs on $1.5bn aid to Egypt

The US spending bill for 2015 that is likely to be passed this week restores the US secretary of state’s power to waive conditions placed on Washington’s nearly $1.5 billion in economic and military aid to Egypt.

The budget passed by Congress after former president Mohammed Morsi was ousted by the Egyptian military in mid-2013 included conditions that the administration was not allowed to waive. This led to a partial suspension of the annual aid that Egypt’s military considers the bedrock of its relationship with the US.

The suspension of aid and withholding of weapons systems that had already been paid for, including F-16 fighter jets, angered the military and was another factor in the deterioration of bilateral relations over the past 18-months. Those relations are now expected to normalise with the new framework for US assistance.

The deep ambivalence among members of both parties and in the Obama administration about the Egyptian government’s crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and liberal pro-democracy activists that led to the conditions on 2014 aid appears to have been superseded by immediate fears of regional instability and the US-led fight against ISIL, both areas where Egypt’s role is seen as important.