BREAKING NEWS

Egypt worried over US Senate bill linking aid to democracy

Egyptian officials have expressed alarm at a US Senate bill proposing to condition continued American aid to Egypt on Cairo's adhering to a transition to democratic government, The Washington Post reported on Friday.
The proposed legislation calls for US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to verify that Egypt has held democratic elections and upheld freedoms of the press, expression ans association before releasing $1.3 billion in aid to Egypt for 2012.
Visiting Clinton and US Defense Minister Leon Panetta in Washington this week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr warned that passage of the bill would be "detrimental to future cooperation" between the countries, according to a senior Egyptian official.
“We called on them to intervene,” The Washington Post quoted the Egyptian official as saying. He added that Clinton and Panetta “know the value of the partnership between the United States and Egypt."