France to sell Egypt 30 fighter jets in $4.5 billion deal: Egyptian defense ministry, report

FILE PHOTO: An engineer works on a French Navy Rafale fighter jet, at the hangar bay of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, currently moored at the port of Limassol, February 21, 2020. REUTERS/Stefanos Kouratzis/File Photo

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.