U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will soon decide whether to release the full $1.5 billion military aid package Washington provides Egypt each year.
The funds were partly rescinded to protest the ouster last year of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, by the military. But with presidential elections next month, a smooth transition in Cairo may give the Obama administration the reason it needs to completely restore the traditional funding.
"The American government should help Egypt," says Dr. Mohammed Aboulghar, head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, one of the new political parties formed after the 2011 revolution that toppled then-President Hosni Mubarak.
The rapid changes in Egypt turned Aboulghar, a mild-mannered, 73-year –old, into a significant political activist. He told Fox News that his nation needs America’s assistance now perhaps more than any other time in recent history.
"We are in danger. We want democracy, we want real democracy, and democracy should always be persuaded through peaceful means and not through weapons and bombs."
Aboulghar fears that without steadfast American support, Muslim Brotherhood militants and radical Islamists will continue to resort to the type of violence that has long marked Egypt’s history, from being behind the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to the current killings of police officers and suicide attacks on civilians.
Egyptian General Abdul-Fatah el-Sisi, who deposed Morsi in July, resigned his post last month to run as a civilian in the presidential election at the end of May and is widely expected to win.
Aboulghar believes that with the upcoming elections, his nation is now at a turning point in fighting terrorism and Morsi's now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood supporters.Read the rest of the story HERE and view a related video below:
If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.
No comments:
Post a Comment