Egyptian military helicopters fly overhead as soldiers stand guard at an entrance to Tahrir Square, in Cairo, Egypt, Oct. 6, 2013 (photo credit: AP/Khalil Hamra/File)
WASHINGTON — A spending bill in Congress would restore $1.5 billion in aid to Egypt, but only on condition that the Egyptian government ensures democratic reform.
The bill links the $1.3 billion in military aid and $250 million in economic aid to Egypt’s sustaining its security relationship with the US and abiding by the Egypt-Israeli peace pact.
A Senate Appropriations Committee summary of the bill says some of the aid would be given only if the secretary of state certifies that Egypt has held a national referendum, supports a democratic transition and holds democratic elections.
The US cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Egypt in October in response to the military coup that overthrew the Cairo government and to a crackdown on protesters.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and police were deployed Tuesday as Egyptians voted on a new constitution in a referendum that will pave the way for a likely presidential run by the nation’s top general, months after he ousted the democratically-elected Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.
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An Egyptian woman dips her finger in ink to show she has voted at a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday (photo credit: AP/Amr Nabil)
Eleven people were killed Tuesday throughout the country in violent clashes between Morsi supporters and security forces.
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