Politico releases Pompeo memo on unfreezing aid to Egypt

In other news from the US, Politico has obtained a copy of the State Department memo that justified the release of USD 195 mn in aid to Egypt that former SecState Rex Tillerson had ordered frozen. “Far from assuring lawmakers that Egypt is making progress on human rights, the ‘memorandum of justification’ laying out the decision amounts to a searing indictment of how Egypt’s government treats its citizens — describing extrajudicial killings, unfair trials, censorship and a generally repressive atmosphere,” the political news service reports. A State Department spokesperson told Politico that while Washington has “serious concerns about the human rights situation in Egypt … strengthened security cooperation with Egypt is important to U.S. national security.” You can read Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s memo here (pdf).