Breaking News US to go ahead with F-16 jets delivery to Egypt

The ouster of the first Egyptian elected president, Mohamed Morsi, and a consequent political unrest nothwithstanding, the United States has said it will go ahead with the delivery of four F-16 fighter jets to Egypt.

American officials said that the jets are likely to be delivered in August as the US has made no changes its plans so far.
This comes even as the White House has not come up with its clear stand on the ouster of Morsi by the Egyptian army. The US has neither welcomed the removal not has it denounced it as a military coup. It says that it needs time to evaluate the situation.
Washington will have to cut a huge military aid to Cairo if the removal of the Islamist leader is determined to be a military coup.
Subsequently the jet deal will also be affected because the Egyptian military receives the lion's share of the $1.5 billion in annual American assistance to the country.
But officials said there is no change in the US outlook as of now.
"There is no current change in the plan to deliver F-16s to the Egyptian military," an US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Asked whether American review of Egyptian political crisis had put the F-16 delivery on hold, the official said: "The delivery remains scheduled as planned."
White House spokesman Jay Carney also said the US has not changed its mind as of now.
"It's our view that we should not in the best interests of the United States make immediate changes to our assistance programmes," Carney said.
The spokesman directed specific questions about the jets to the Defense Department and added that the administration would take its time to consider the implications of removing Morsi from power.
The Pentagon in a statement reiterated what President Barack Obama had said on July 3 about having ordered a review of U.S. assistance to Egypt.
The jets are part of an already agreed bigger order of 20 planes - eight of which were sent to Egypt in January. The final eight are expected to be shipped later this year.
President Obama has been careful not to use the word "coup" in relation to the recent events in Egypt to avoid triggering a legal cut-off of aid.
An Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman has said Morsi is being held in a "safe place" and treated in a "very dignified manner" even as arrest warrants have been issued for the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, and nine senior figures.
They are charged with inciting deadly violence in Cairo on Monday