Cutting aid contradicts strategic relations between U.S., Egypt

CAIRO – 1 November 2017: Cutting U.S. aid to Egypt contradicts the strategic relations between the two countries and gives the impression that relations between them are unstable, stated the Egyptian Parliament speaker Ali Abdel Aal on Wednesday.

This was during the six-day visit of a parliamentarians’ delegation to the U.S. during which Abdel Aal met with the the U.S. Senate Orrin Hatch on Wednesday.

Talks between the two sides focused on the recent development of the relations between the two states.

Hatch referred that different points of views between the two states could be resolved by holding dialogues, wishing that this visit will be a starting point for having significant relations with Egypt. He confirmed that Egypt’s stability achieves peace and security in the Middle East.

Abdel Aal said that Egypt exerts a lot of efforts to achieve the common interests of the region, where fighting terrorism and the effective intervention in the Palestinian concordance and peace mission come at the top of these interests.

This visit is considered to be the first for the Egyptian parliament speaker since 2008.

Several meetings have taken place during the visit that were attended by the Egyptian Member of Parliament, the American Chamber of Commerce, the Middle East Strategic Institute, some of the Congress’s members, and the House of Representatives' speaker Paul Ryan.

During these meetings, several topics were discussed including the latest economic reform measures taken by the Egyptian government, the new investment law, and the major challenges Egypt is facing on all levels.

In August, the U.S. decided to deny Egypt almost $100 million in aid and hold back another $195 million until it sees improvements in Cairo's track record on human rights and democracy.