Bush Threatens to Withhold Aid to Egypt
Thursday, August 15, 2002
WASHINGTON — President Bush is notifying Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that he will oppose any additional aid to Egypt to protest the prosecution of a human rights campaigner.
Egypt responded angrily. "We do not give into pressure," Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said.
Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a university professor who holds Egyptian and American passports, was convicted last month on charges of embezzlement, receiving foreign funds without authorization and tarnishing Egypt's image.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison in a case that drew the attention of international human rights groups.
The State Department said it was "deeply disappointed" in the conviction.
On Thursday, Sean McCormack, a White House spokesman, said "we have expressed our deep concern" to Egypt, a close friend of the United States.
Another senior U.S. official said the conviction made additional aid "impossible." The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "it is a very important issue to us and we are raising it with Egypt at the highest level."
Bush's letter to Mubarak does not bear on the nearly $2 billion in economic and military assistance the United States provides to Egypt annually. Nor had any new assistance for Egypt been announced.
However, Israel is to receive $200 million in counter-terrorism assistance and Egypt might have been considered for special aid as well.
"My only reply is we do not give in to pressure." Maher said. "Everyone knows that."
The foreign minister said Egypt's court system is independent of the government "and we ask everyone to respect our judiciary like we respect theirs."
Amnesty International protested the conviction. The president of American University in Cairo, John Gerhart, said when Ibrahim was convicted that he had "courageously pursued his vocation as a committed scholar while remaining at all times a patriotic Egyptian."
The prosecution contended Ibrahim had used funds raised through a research group he founded, ran for personal gain and lured his staff into an embezzlement scheme.
Twenty-seven co-defendants, all staff members of the research group, were convicted of bribery and fraud charges and received sentences of one to three years.
"Egypt is an important friend and ally and the United States has expressed its deep concerns about this particular case," said White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan, traveling with the president Thursday.
"We will meet our Camp David commitments," she said. "But at this time we don't contemplate additional funds beyond the Camp David commitment."
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