Officials said the State Department has directed the U.S. ambassador and
other diplomats not to criticize Egypt. They said the Mubarak regime was
besieged by the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood, deemed as extremely
anti-American.
Officials said the administration has decided to refrain from
criticizing Mubarak during his effort to revise the constitution. They said
the State Department and White House have sought to avoid angering the
78-year-old Mubarak amid the U.S. effort to stabilize Iraq.
"We have found that criticism of Mubarak has always been
counterproductive," an official said. "We don't want to be in the middle of
what should be a domestic political event in Egypt."
As a result, the administration has been largely supportive of the
Mubarak regime. Officials said that despite the crackdown on the opposition,
Mubarak has been implementing democratic reforms in Egypt, which receives
$1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid.
"When you are able to at some point look back, you will see a general
trend towards greater political reform, greater political openness, a more
direct correlation between the will and needs and hopes of the Egyptian
people and those whom they elect," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
said March 20.
McCormack cited Egypt's multi-party presidential and parliamentary
elections as well as the recent appointment of 31 female judges as positive
developments. He said the 2005 elections have "changed [the] face of the
Egyptian parliament."
"Despite its longstanding rhetorical support for democratic reform,
Washington's response to date has been tepid at best," a report by the
Washington Institute said.
Still, the State Department has criticized Egypt for the imprisonment of
opposition leaders, including former presidential candidate Ayman Nour, as
well as the conviction of blogger Abdul Karim Suleiman. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice also expressed concern over the opposition boycott of
Egypt's referendum on the revised constitution, scheduled for March 26.
"The hope was that this would be a process that gave voice to all
Egyptians," Ms. Rice said on March 23 on her way to Cairo. "I think there's
some danger that that hope is not going to be met. Right now I am concerned
that it won't."
The Mubarak regime quickly responded and accused the United States of
interfering in Egypt's domestic affairs. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu
Al Gheit accused Ms. Rice of prejudging Cairo's reform process.
"Even if Egypt and the United States have a friendly, strategic
relationship, Egypt can't accept interference in its affairs from any of its
friends," Abu Al Gheit said.
