US approves $2.5B radars, planes sales to Egypt

The sale includes 12 Super Hercules C-130 transport aircraft and related equipment worth $2.2 billion, and air defence radar systems worth an estimated $355 million.

The sale of the Super Hercules transport aircraft will bolster Cairo's airlift capabilities and strengthen "its capacity in the security and humanitarian arena."
Reuters

The sale of the Super Hercules transport aircraft will bolster Cairo's airlift capabilities and strengthen "its capacity in the security and humanitarian arena."

The US State Department has approved two major military equipment sales to Egypt of transport aircraft and radar systems, despite ongoing concerns in Washington over Cairo's human rights record.

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Tuesday said the sale, still not finalised, "will improve Egypt's capability to meet current and future threats by providing airlift support for its forces by moving supplies, equipment, and people."

The aircraft can also be used for maritime patrol and rescue missions, it added.

The sale of 12 C-130 J Super Hercules transports and accompanying equipment is worth $2.2 billion.

In a second deal, Egypt can buy ground-based air defence systems worth $355 million to help it fend off air threats.

The deals come despite ongoing unease in Washington over Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi's tough treatment of political opponents, with rights groups estimating that Egypt holds about 60,000 political prisoners.

READ MORE: US approves nearly $200M in arms sales to Egypt despite rights concerns

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'Keep the freeze on aid'

In September, the State Department put a hold on $130 million in military aid already budgeted for Egypt because of lack of improvement in the human rights situation in the country.

And in early November, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Egypt in bilateral talks to make "tangible and lasting improvements" on human rights.

But for fiscal year 2022, which began on October 1, 2021, the Biden administration budgeted $1.4 billion in bilateral assistance — most of it military related — for Cairo, the same as the previous year.

Two lawmakers who have been critical of US arms sales to Egypt said Tuesday that Egypt has not met the conditions required to remove the suspension on the frozen $130 million.

"We welcome the recent release of several high-profile Egyptian political prisoners," said Don Beyer and Tom Malinowski, co-chairs of Congress' Egypt Human Rights Caucus.

However, they said it was not enough and urged Biden to keep the freeze on the aid.

"Tens of thousands of political prisoners... remain in Egyptian prisons," they said in a statement. "The government of Egypt has continued to engage in widespread torture, suppression of dissent, and even persecution of American citizens and the families of critics living in the United States," they added.

The two arms deals also gained approval nearly three weeks after US authorities arrested a New York man accused of spying on political opponents of Sisi.

READ MORE: Could Biden deprive Trump’s ‘favourite dictator’ of his carte blanche?

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