US Senate opposes Obama's plan to keep military aid flowing to Egypt

American military aid to Egypt lost Senate support in the wake of the mass death sentences issued by the Minya Criminal Court, American newspapers reported yesterday

Chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy said that he would not support additional military aid to Egypt in the wake of the mass death sentences handed out an Egyptian court this week.

This has added significant pressure on the Obama administration.

Leahy said: “I am not prepared to sign off on the delivery of additional aid for the Egyptian military. I am not prepared to do that until we see convincing evidence that the government is committed to the rule of law.”

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he would back the Obama administration’s pledge to deliver 10 Apache attack helicopters to the Egyptian military government to try to bring peace to the Sinai Peninsula.

However he will not back a larger $650 million military or economic aid package. “I am not ready to invest in Egypt… because I do not know what I am investing in. I am very reluctant to put military assets or American dollars in an Egypt that I think is on a road to disaster.”

The Washington Post said that US President Barak Obama’s plan to keep military aid flowing into Egypt was faced with significant opposition. The newspaper reported Leahy’s remarks saying he blocked the aid because of the “appalling abuse of justice”.