CAIRO: Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb gave a nod to an initiative launched by Salafi preacher Mohamed Hassan to forgo US military aid and replace it with a local campaign to raise the same amount from the Egyptian people. Hassan had proposed the "Egyptian Aid" initiative in the wake of a fierce face-off between Egyptian authorities and the West when 44 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, were referred to the Cairo Criminal Court on allegations of receiving illegal foreign funding. Hassan said he refused the US aid to Egypt because America is threatening to cut it off. "We as Egyptians don't accept such an insult and humiliation," he said in a televised interview. Egypt has been receiving $1.3 billion in annual military aid from the US as part of a peace agreement with Israel in 1979. El-Tayeb said in his meeting with Hassan that this initiative is a reaction to continued American attempts since the Jan. 25 Revolution to expand the role and influence of the US in Egypt and to intervene in Egypt's internal affairs by waving the US aid card, according to state-run Al-Ahram newspaper. Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzoury held a meeting with Hassan to discuss the possibility of implementing the initiative. The meeting was still ongoing by press time. Hassan noted in the interview with Al-Hayah TV channel that the telecommunications companies have declared their willingness to pay taxes in advance to take part in the initiative and that students wanted to participate even with small amounts of money. Meanwhile, a number of political powers had expressed their support to the initiative. The Salafi Al-Nour Party welcomed the initiative that would do away with both military and economic aid. "We encourage any social action to confront Egypt's political subordination to US aid," Nader Bakkar, spokesman of Al-Nour, said in a statement. He added that the depletion of Egypt's dignity and its international standing resulted from the country's absolute dependence on the United States and was among the causes of the Egyptian revolution. "It is unreasonable to remain on the same level of submission to others after the revolution," he added. Al-Asala Salafi Party also announced its endorsement of the initiative, describing US aid as a means to interfere in Egypt's internal affairs and decision-making. "It is a very positive initiative from an economic perspective," said Ola El-Khawaga, professor of economics at Cairo University, pointing out that if every economic institution donated the equivalent of one-day salary of its employees, a good sum of money will be collected. "Even if we continue to receive the aid, we have a lot of other funding crises. So, regardless of substituting US aid, this idea can help rescue the deteriorating economy," she added. According to El-Khawaga, the collected funds can help the government respond to sector-specific demands or to restructure the salary scales. However, not all economists agree. "Such an initiative will only provide local liquidity but will not endow the economy with foreign currency that is quickly needed for our ailing economy," said Magda Kandil, executive director of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies (ECES). Kandil believes that Egypt's relationship with the international community should crystallize in a form that aids the economy. "We don't derive an economic benefit from isolating ourselves from the international community and economic partners such as the United States," she added. "This is a very short-term perspective". Kandil said that the Egyptian economy has a variety of strengths but its success is tied to dealing with the international community to raise the index of confidence to convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support it.
