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US announces cut in financial aid to Egypt

The White House has cut financial aid to Egypt's interim government and halted delivery of tanks and missiles following the military's violent suppression of supporters of the ousted Islamist president. More than 1,000 of Mr Morsi's supporters have been killed in clashes with security forces since the military coup in July Photo: Mosaab Elshamy/EPA

By Raf Sanchez in Washington

10:56PM BST 09 Oct 2013

The long-expected US decision to withhold around $260 million in aid comes four months after Egypt's generals overthrew Mohammed Morsi, the democratically-elected Muslim brotherhood president.

More than 1,000 of Mr Morsi's supporters have been killed in clashes with security forces since the military coup in July, including around 50 over the weekend.

The Egyptian government announced earlier today that Mr Morsi will be put on trial next month, in a move likely to only further inflame the country's political crisis.

The US said it was halting cash assistance to the interim government and suspending the delivery of F-16 fighter jets, Apache helicopters, M1A1 tanks and Harpoon missiles.

The White House did not provide exact figures but said the decision was intended to send "a strong message".


"We can't just go about business as usual following the events of the summer," a US official said in a briefing for reporters. "We have conveyed that very clearly to the Egyptian government and they hear us."

However, the cuts represent only a small fraction of the $1.5 billion the US gives to Egypt every year. Obama administration officials said they would continue to provide military training, support on counter-terrorism, spare parts of military hardware and economic assistance.

The US was at pains to stress that it would continue to work closely with Egypt, that the decision would be constantly renewed and that aid could be restored if the government eases its heavy-handed approach.

"This is not meant to be permanent, it's meant to be the opposite," said one senior administration official.

The news was conveyed to Abdulfattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian defence minister, by Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary, in a 40-minute conversation that American officials described as "friendly".

The two men have spoken more than 20 times in recent months as the US treads a careful line between maintaining relations with the military without being seen to endorse its clampdown on Islamist protesters.

The White House has always officially refused to call the July 3 military intervention "a coup" as that designation would trigger an American law cutting off aid to Egypt.

US officials said that they still were not classifying the overthrow as a coup and did not intend to in the future.

Some Gulf Arab nations have promised they would step in to make up any shortfall in American aid, raising questions about whether the US decision will have a real impact on Egypt's rulers.