US urged to withhold military aid to Egypt in wake of Bob Menendez charges

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Source: The Guardian

Mon 25 Sep 2023 03.00 EDT


The indictment of Senator Bob Menendez on charges of corruptly aiding the Egyptian government has set the stage for a week of renewed pressure on US lawmakers to withhold military aid to Egypt. Menendez stepped town temporarily from his position as head of the Senate foreign relations committee on Friday after he was indicted by New York’s southern district court on a set of explosive and detailed charges. These included accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes as well as gold bars, payments towards his mortgage and gifts including a luxury car, in exchange for using his influence and breaching his duties “in ways that benefited the government of Egypt”, while bolstering a halal meat certification business based in his New Jersey district linked to the Egyptian state.

The senator has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, stating “those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty”. The indictment also details the senator’s close relationships with members of the Egyptian intelligence services, including meetings in his office in Washington and in Cairo to discuss the $1.3bn in foreign military aid given to Egypt by the US each year, an area where Menendez possessed substantial control due to his position.

The Biden administration recently opted to withhold $85m of military aid for Egypt citing human rights concerns, substantially less than the amounts withheld in previous years. The move sparked criticism from observers who pointed to Egypt’s abysmal human rights record, citing tens of thousands detained under president Abdel-Fatah al Sisi including political prisoners and US green card holders.

With one week remaining before the end of the financial year, Menendez’s indictment has sparked furious calls from rights groups and lobbyists in Washington demanding that US lawmakers withhold on national security grounds a further $235m in military aid to Egypt that was previously approved by the Biden administration earlier this month.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/25/us-urged-to-withhold-military-aid-to-egypt-in-wake-of-bob-menendez-charges