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Bush to oppose new US aid to Egypt
Washington, Aug 15: The Bush administration will oppose any new US aid to Egypt to protest the seven-year jail sentence handed down last month to Egyptian-American human rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim.
Washington, Aug 15: The Bush administration will oppose any new US aid to Egypt to protest the seven-year jail sentence handed down last month to Egyptian-American human rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim.
President George W Bush will notify Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak of his decision in writing soon, administration sources said.
Existing aid programmes for Egypt will not be affected.
The Mubarak government had been lobbying for an extra 130 million dollars after a congressional vote to grant Israel 200 million dollars in anti-terrorism funds, the Washington Post reported.
Meanwhile, reports from Cairo quoting the Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Maher said Cairo "will not accept any pressure from abroad". He was reacting to the article. Bush's decision to connect Egypt's human rights performance to economic aid, the post points out, "is a notable shift in policy toward a longtime ally considered essential to US efforts to calm the Israeli Palestinian conflict and remove Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein."
The Bush administration's restrained public response to Ibrahim's July 29 conviction raised doubts about the commitment behind Bush's pledge to spread democracy in the Arab world, it said.
Advocacy groups which have pressed the administration to speak out more boldly against Ibrahim's imprisonment, praised the new move yesterday.
Tom Malinowsky, of human rights watch's Washington office, said the decision could be "the most significant step the United States has ever taken to defend human rights in the Arab world." Bureau Report
Existing aid programmes for Egypt will not be affected.
The Mubarak government had been lobbying for an extra 130 million dollars after a congressional vote to grant Israel 200 million dollars in anti-terrorism funds, the Washington Post reported.
Meanwhile, reports from Cairo quoting the Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Maher said Cairo "will not accept any pressure from abroad". He was reacting to the article. Bush's decision to connect Egypt's human rights performance to economic aid, the post points out, "is a notable shift in policy toward a longtime ally considered essential to US efforts to calm the Israeli Palestinian conflict and remove Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein."
The Bush administration's restrained public response to Ibrahim's July 29 conviction raised doubts about the commitment behind Bush's pledge to spread democracy in the Arab world, it said.
Advocacy groups which have pressed the administration to speak out more boldly against Ibrahim's imprisonment, praised the new move yesterday.
Tom Malinowsky, of human rights watch's Washington office, said the decision could be "the most significant step the United States has ever taken to defend human rights in the Arab world." Bureau Report