France was the main weapons supplier to Egypt between 2013-2017, including the sale of 24 warplanes with an option for 12 more. Those contracts dried up, including deals for more Rafale jets and warships that had been at an advanced stage.
Diplomats said that was as much to do with financing issues over fears about Cairo s long-term ability to repay state-backed guaranteed loans, rather than concerns Paris had with the human rights situation in Egypt.
Benedicte Jeannerod, Human Rights Watch Director for France, denounced the deal outright. By signing a mega-arms contract with [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-] Sissi s government while the latter presides over the worst repression in decades in Egypt, the eradication of the human rights community in the country, and undertakes extremely serious violations under the pretext of the fight against terrorism, France is only encouraging this ruthless repression, Jeannerod told Reuters.
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PARIS (Reuters) - Egypt has signed a contract with France to buy 30 Rafale fighter jets, its defence ministry said in a statement early on Tuesday, in a deal that investigative website Disclose said on Monday was worth 3.75 billion euro ($4.5 billion).
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President Emmanuel Macron said in December he would not make the sale of weapons to Egypt conditional on human rights because he did not want to weaken Cairo’s ability to counter terrorism in the region, a comment that drew the ire of critics.
Egypt’s defense ministry said the deal would be financed through a loan to be re-paid over at least 10 years, but did not disclose the value of the deal or further details.
France to sell Egypt 30 fighter jets in $4.5 billion deal -Egyptian defense ministry, report Reuters 3 hrs ago
By John Irish
PARIS (Reuters) - Egypt has signed a contract with France to buy 30 Rafale fighter jets, its defence ministry said in a statement early on Tuesday, in a deal that investigative website Disclose said on Monday was worth 3.75 billion euro ($4.5 billion).
President Emmanuel Macron said in December he would not make the sale of weapons to Egypt conditional on human rights because he did not want to weaken Cairo s ability to counter terrorism in the region, a comment that drew the ire of critics.
Egypt s military has confirmed it ordered 30 Rafale jets from French defence firm Dassault Aviation to shore up national security .
The order, which follows the 2015 purchase of 24 Rafale jets, will be financed through a 10-year loan, the military said in a statement late Monday.
Investigative site Disclose had reported earlier Monday that the order was part of a secret mega-defence deal worth almost four billion euros ($4.8 billion).
Egypt is the world s third biggest arms importer after Saudi Arabia and India, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Its arms purchases grew by 136 percent over the last decade and it has diversified its sourcing beyond the United States, buying military equipment from France, Germany and Russia, the institute said in a report released earlier this year.
Egypt s Ministry of Defence has announced that it will buy $4.5 billion worth of Rafale fighter jets from France in a move that has sparked outrage among human rights defenders. The deal will go .