WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government said on Wednesday that it will hold back its aid to Egypt until it sees "progress on democracy."
The U.S. State Department has confirmed that the United States had denied Egypt 96 million U.S. dollars in aid and delayed 195 million U.S. dollars in military funding due to concerns over its human rights record.
"It's about human rights," said State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert in a daily press briefing.
"We're committed to strengthening our bilateral relationship with Egypt, but we have decided that in the interest of the United States it's in our best interest to exercise a national security waiver," said Nauert.
The United States will withdraw the money until it sees "progress on democracy," she added.
Egypt has expressed regret over the U.S. decision to decrease aid allocated to the country.
"Egypt considers this step as a misjudgment of the nature of the strategic relations that binds the two countries over decades, and reflects the lack of understanding of the importance of supporting the stability and success of Egypt," said Egyptian Foreign Ministry in a statement on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Egypt will still get one billion U.S. dollars aid in the fiscal year of 2017.
Egypt receives annual military aid of 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, making it the second largest recipient of U.S. annual aid after Israel, Washington's top ally in the region.
