Egypt's minister for international cooperation, Fayza Aboul Naga, said the USAID's actions violate Egyptian sovereignty.
“I am not sure at this stage we still need somebody to tell us what is or is not good for us—or worse, to force it on us,” Fayza Aboul Naga, who has been Egypt’s minister for planning and international cooperation since before the revolution, told The Wall Street Journal.
Shortly after Mr. Mubarak’s ouster, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said some of the $250 million in annual economic aid for Egypt would be redirected to “support the transition and assist the economic recovery.”
Egyptian officials, who insist they should be allowed to vet or select recipients, were incensed by USAID’s bypassing the government to solicit proposals directly from the public.
Ms. Aboul Naga, backed by the military and the foreign ministry, has protested to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo complaining that USAID’s actions violated Egypt’s sovereignty.