The Egyptian Foreign Ministry is defending the hiring of Glover Park Group to a monthly retainer of $250K, one of the fattest government-relations contracts on file at the Justice Dept.

The contract, according to the Egyptian press, is under fire by opponents of the junta that ousted freely elected president Mohamed Morsi.

On the evening of Oct. 26, the Ministry released a statement to say that hiring a PR firm is “customary among the nations of the world.”

It wants to use GPG to make an impression in the U.S. because America is a “large country with interests and connections in different parts of the world.”

The Ministry assured Egyptians that the government, not GPG, would decide the “content of the message to be directed and targeted at either the U.S. administration, Congress, research centers of media.”

The role of GPG to use its contacts and connections to relay Egypt’s position, according to the FM.

The junta’s statement noted that past Egypt governments have hired PR and lobbyists. It added that No. 1 adversary Muslim Brotherhood political/cultural group has used outside paid pitchmen.

The Government said the GPG is not a financial burden to the people of Egypt because an unnamed third-party is picking up the tab .

GPG’s work began Oct. 15. Contract details become public Oct. 18.

Mohamed Tawfik, ambassador to the U.S., signed the contract on behalf of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

WPP owns GPG.