CAIRO: One week after US President Bush called for the release of opposition leader Ayman Nour, the US House of Representatives on Tuesday advanced legislation aimed at pressuring Egypt to improve its human rights record by withholding some military aid. If passed, the US would withhold $200 million in military aid next year until Egypt curbs police abuses, reforms its judicial system, and stops weapons smuggling from Egypt to Gaza. But Egypt would still receive $1.3 billion in military grants, in addition to economic aid. Bahey El-Din Hassan, director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, says the resolution "is an important political message to the Egyptian government, adding that military aid is more important than economic aid. Still, he told The Daily Star Egypt that the bill "is only of symbolic significance so far because it has yet to be approved by the House of Representatives and the US Senate, as well as by the US administration. Similar measures have been rejected in the past in the interest of regional security, Egypt being one of the US's closest allies in the region. "I am skeptical that the US administration is ready to sacrifice such a security interest for the sake of human rights in Egypt, says Hassan. He adds that the stated conditions were very broadly phrased and had no substantial way to measure improvement. Nabil Abdel Fatah, expert at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies concurs. "This is a red signal to the Egyptian government for its human rights violations but it is not an effective measure, he told The Daily Star Egypt.He adds that the US has neglected human rights issues in the Middle East because it needs Egypt and other Arab states' support for the [deteriorating] situation in Iraq and Palestine, and to battle the rising influence of Iran. The US security interests in the region are important than human rights [concerns], says Abdel Fatah, a fact "which threatens the credibility of the US as a human rights advocate. The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has repeatedly called for the withdrawal of US military aid in the past. But Essam El Erian, head of the MB Political Bureau, doubts the US's true interests with regards to the bill. "We are against aid because we can't depend on US aid which has been continuous for 30 years. El-Erian says the military aid does not improve the lives of Egyptians. At the same time though, he does not believe aid should be contingent on Egyptian policies, saying that while Bush spoke out against Ayman Nour's arrest, nothing has been mentioned regarding the 2,000 MB members who have been arrested. He worries that US conditions may be applied more broadly in the future to other issues. Finally, he says he does not believe the conditions are an "innocent direction. "We are not fools, he says. El-Erian cites US support of other dictatorships such as Pakistan, Libya and Tunisia as evidence of America's suspect intentions. Egypt receives the second highest amount of US aid worldwide, after Israel. Under the House proposal, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would have to certify Egypt s progress on human rights and weapons smuggling before the $200 million is released. The proposed $34.2 billion foreign aid would also make contingent aid and diplomacy toward Libya and Indonesia. The American Embassy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs were unable to comment on the bill at time of press.
