The army-backed government said Thursday the decision to cut aid was wrong, with the cabinet saying it found the decision strange at a time when the country was "facing a war against terrorism".
However, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington would consider resuming some of the aid "on a basis of performance" in following the interim government's "roadmap" that promises to lead to fair elections.
Washington faces a dilemma in dealing with its major regional ally; Egypt controls the strategic Suez Canal and has a peace treaty with neighbouring Israel but its army overthrew in July the first freely-elected president, Islamist Mohamed Mursi, after mass protests against his rule.
In some of the worst civilian violence in modern Egyptian history, security forces crushed protests by Mursi's supporters. However, militant Islamists, who have been attacking Egyptian forces in the Sinai peninsula for some time, have begun staging assaults in or near major cities including Cairo.
The United States said on Wednesday it would withhold deliveries of tanks, fighter aircraft, helicopters and missiles to Cairo as well as $260 million in cash aid, but left some other aid programmes intact. » | Reuters | Thursday, October 10, 2013
