US frees some aid for Egypt, claiming progress on abuses

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it’s again giving Egypt much of a $300 million tranche of annual military aid that’s conditioned on human rights improvements. The decision announced Wednesday follows a formal U.S. determination that the U.S. ally had made progress by releasing some 500 of its estimated 60,000 political prisoners. U.S. officials say Secretary of State Antony Blinken has informed Egypt that the U.S. is withholding about $130 million of the $300 million. Rights groups and some U.S. lawmakers have urged the administration to withhold the full $300 million. Egyptian security forces and prisons are notorious for detentions, torture and disappearances of democracy and rights activists, journalists, writers and others.