US approves the release of $1.2 billion in military aid to Egypt

Copyright Shutterstock / By Raimonds Romans

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo  ‘signed national security waivers allowing the money known as foreign military financing  to be spent,’ reported the Associated Press (AP) news agency.  It added: “Congress has 15 days to weigh in on the waivers, which were signed on 21 August but not previously made public.”

It also stated: “The money includes $1 billion for the current 2018 budget year and $195 million appropriated for 2017 that would have had to have been returned to the treasury had it not been spent by 30 September.”

Last July, US President Donald Trump’s administration decided to unfreeze $195 million in military aid to Egypt, which it previously halted last year over “human rights and democratic norms violations.”

The announcement was followed by the returning of the biggest drills, ‘Bright Star,’ between the two countries armed forces and other countries. The ‘Bright Star’ was first launched in 1980 following the signing of the Camp David Accords in September 1978.