High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft to buy additional rights. ft/cms/s/0/d7381334-07f8-11e3-badc-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2cN1WRqB1 The EU is to “urgently review” relations with Egypt and will consider suspending aid to the country, as international concern mounts about an escalation in violence following last week’s crackdown on Islamist protesters. EU officials said the review was likely to recommend a suspension of various forms of aid and loans in total worth €5bn, which had been earmarked to help Egypt in its transition towards democracy following the popular revolution that ended the military regime of Hosni Mubarak two years ago. Suspension would require the backing of EU member states. More On this story Egypt Building the narrative Public mood in Egypt hardens on Islamists Gun battle as police clear Cairo mosque Christians targeted in Egypt violence Global Insight US needs to isolate Egypt’s military On this topic ‘Day of Rage’ in Egypt leaves dozens dead Editorial The painful birth of Arab democracy Slideshow Egypt’s day of rage West struggles to find Egyptian response IN Middle Eastern Politics & Society Iran’s Hassan Rohani defends choice of ministers Turkey loses friends in the Middle East Saudi arrests linked to al-Qaeda threat Yemen claims al-Qaeda plot foiled Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said the EU would “completely reappraise the situation regarding Egypt”, describing the situation in Egypt in an interview with ZDF television as “extraordinarily volatile and concerning”. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s army chief, said the army would not tolerate violence or any attempt to “terrorise’’ Egyptians but urged supporters of Mr Morsi to join the political process. “There is room for everyone, we are keen on protecting all Egyptians,’’ Gen Sisi said in a speech to military and police officers on Sunday. “But they have to understand that the Egyptian people are the source of legitimacy; they can grant or strip it from whomever they want.” On Sunday 36 Muslim Brotherhood detainees died in disputed circumstances. The state news agency reported that they were killed in an exchange of fire after they tried to escape from a truck convoy heading to Abu Zabaal prison in northern Cairo. Gunmen had attacked the trucks, which were carrying 600 detainees arrested during street violence between the security forces and loyalists of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi. The interior ministry, however, said the detainees had taken a police officer hostage and had tried to escape. They were suffocated by tear gas used in the operation to free the officer. Egypt’s army-backed cabinet met to discuss the crisis as the Muslim Brotherhood called for more street protests and its opponents, led by the prime minister, Hazem el-Beblawi, argued for an outright ban on the movement. However, the cabinet is also considering an attempt at conciliation presented by Ziad Bahaa-Eldin, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, which advocated an inclusive political process for all parties who renounce violence and an end to the state of emergency “as soon as possible”. Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, said the EU would “urgently review in the coming days its relations with Egypt and adopt measures aimed at pursuing” the end of violence and the resumption of dialogue. The EU together with its 28 member states promised Egypt in November a total of €5bn in grants and loans for a series of initiatives and projects on condition that democratic reform was implemented. There was no timescale for disbursement of the funds. EU officials said it was too early to identify exactly which parts of the EU-Egypt relationship would be affected by the review but they added that the blocking of funds was “very much on the table”. “The current situation is not making it possible for Egyptian authorities to fulfil many of those conditions so they cannot get the money that was put at their potential disposal [in November],” said an EU official. Ambassadors of the EU’s 28-member countries will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss the situation in Egypt. A meeting of EU foreign ministers is expected to be called as early as Thursday. In the US, the drumbeat of lawmakers questioning aid to Egypt grew louder on Sunday. “With the recent violent crackdown I do not see how we can continue aid,” said Kelly Ayotte, a Republican senator from New Hampshire on the armed services committee who had opposed cutting off aid to Egypt as recently as July. Jack Reed, a Democratic senator from Rhode Island, agreed that aid should be suspended but called on President Barack Obama to retain some flexibility. “The acts of the last few days by the Egyptian military are completely unconscionable and I do believe we have to change our aid,” Mr Reed said. “I think also we have to have included in the legislation a national security waiver because we have to give the president not only the responsibility to deal with the government of Egypt but also flexibility.” Bob Corker of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Senate foreign relations committee, called for a suspension and then a “recalibration” of aid to Egypt. “I just think we need to tier it. There are certain things that obviously should not flow. There are certain things that are in our national interest that continue to need to flow. I mean, we want their co-operation in northeast Sinai. We want their co-operation with the Suez Canal. So again, let’s look at what is in our national interest,” Mr Corker told ABC. Peter King and Eliot Engel, a Republican and a Democrat in the House of Representatives, each told separate Sunday shows that they were reluctant to cut off aid to Egypt, showing that the US political system remains split on the next steps. A White House spokeswoman said on Sunday its position had not changed since Mr Obama’s public comments last week, when the president did not mention curtailing US aid
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 12:48:38 +0000
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