Egypt

Kerry arrives in Cairo

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Cairo on Sunday for a brief visit during which he will meet with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
 
Kerry will tackle bilateral relations as well as several Middle Eastern issues.
 
The United States quietly sent around US$572 million in aid to Egypt some 10 days ago after Congress finally approved its release, US officials said on Sunday.
      
The funds are the first tranche of some $1.5 billion in mostly military aid which has been frozen since October amid US administration demands that the Egyptian government introduce democratic reforms.
 
Ten Apache helicopters, which have also been approved for release, remain in storage however.
 
The US froze its annual aid last summer due to concerns the country was slipping into autocratic rule after the ouster of Egypt's first democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsy and the subsequent military-led disperal of the Rabaa al-Adaweya sit-in, in which almost 600 mostly unarmed Muslim Brotherhood supporters were killed while protesting Morsy's ouster.
 
 
Edited translation from MENA

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