Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Amro, denied media reports claiming that the United States issued an official threat to cut all financial aid to Cairo, adding that there is no crisis in relations between the two countries.“We all know that there are protests in front of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, the protesters are expressing their anger due the movie that mocks the Muslim Prophet Mohammad”, Amro said, “But these protests have been contained, no one was killed, and this is a good thing that the U.S. appreciated”.
He also said that the American Ambassador to Egypt, Anne W. Patterson, also acknowledged this issue and expressed, her appreciation to all efforts that aim at preventing violence.
Amro said that U.S. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, said that she will conduct maximum efforts to ensure that the U.S. aid is transferred to Cairo as soon as possible.
“The U.S. Senate discussed the issue, and made it clear that the United States wants the aid to continue”, he stated, “The Congress also approved the continuation of the aid, but of course there are some representatives and congress members who want the aid to stop, but from what we are seeing, the aid will not be stopped or even reduced”.
As for the $1 Billion of additional aid that the U.S. President, Barack Obama, promised in May of 20111, Amro said that “this aid package will be delivered to Egypt”, and that ‘there are no deliberations on reducing the amount’.
He also said that Egypt is an independent country, and that Cairo and Washington have a mutual agenda that works for the benefit of the two countries, and for stability in the Middle East.
