US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
was Sunday holding talks with Egypt’s top military leaders, just hours
after calling for them to help smooth the country’s full transition to
democracy.
The top US diplomat arrived in Egypt
amid a complex power struggle being played out between the newly-elected
Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, and the Supreme Council of the Armed
Forces (SCAF).
A day after her first meeting with
Morsi, Clinton was to hold talks with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi —
the country’s interim military ruler after president Hosni Mubarak was
ousted last year ending three decades in power.
Clinton has repeatedly called on the
military to respect the outcome of the elections and told a news
conference her talks with Tantawi would focus on “working to support the
military’s return to a purely national security role.”
Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically
elected president, is locked in a standoff with the military after he
ordered parliament to reconvene, defying an army decision to disband the
house.
But a declaration issued by the SCAF
before Morsi was sworn in — which acts as a temporary constitution —
granted the military sweeping powers, including legislative control,
even though they handed over to Morsi on June, 30.
While Morsi’s decree was applauded by
supporters, it set off a firestorm of criticism from opponents who
accused him of overstepping his authority. Choosing her words carefully
in the politically-charged atmosphere, Clinton said “it is very clear
that Egyptians are in the midst of complex negotiations about the
transition” including the make-up of parliament, a new constitution and
the full powers of the president.”
“Democracy is hard,” she said. “It
requires dialogue and compromise and real politics. We are encouraged
and we want to be helpful. But we know that it is not for the United
States to decide, it is for the Egyptian people to decide.”
Clinton’s meeting on Saturday with
Morsi, a longtime member of the Muslim Brotherhood, comes after Egypt’s
first free presidential elections following the ouster of decades-old US
ally Mubarak, who enjoyed strong military backing.
The United States supported the full
transition to civilian rule, Clinton said, adding however she wanted to
commend the military council “for representing the Egyptian people in
the revolution.”
“As compared to what we are seeing in
Syria which is the military murdering their own people, the SCAF here
protected the Egyptian nation,” and had overseen free elections, Clinton
said.
“But there is more work ahead, and I
think the issues around the parliament, the constitution have to be
resolved between and among Egyptians.”
Hundreds of protesters had gathered
outside the US embassy and later Clinton’s hotel to denounce what they
said was “US interference in domestic affairs,” the official MENA news
agency reported.
The US and Egyptian militaries have had a
30-year close alliance, and at the chaotic news conference one Egyptian
reporter repeatedly tried to ask Clinton why the US had resumed its
$1.3 billion in annual military aid.
A senior State Department official said
Clinton would “encourage Tantawi… to engage in dialogue and to avoid the
kind of confrontation that could potentially lead to the transition
veering off track.”
Clinton will also focus on the
protection of religious minorities and of women, and was meeting later
Tuesday with women activists and Coptic leaders.
The post-revolution rise of the
Islamists has raised fears among women and among the country’s
10-million-strong Christian community that their rights could be rolled
back.
With the economy in a shambles due to a
fall in tourism and a lack of growth, Clinton also Saturday outlined
economic support “to help Egypt stabilise its economy and to use debt
relief to foster innovation, growth and job creation.”
She unveiled plans for $250 million in
loan guarantees to Egyptian small and medium-sized businesss, as well as
setting up a US-Egypt enterprise fund with some $60 million in capital.
No comments:
Post a Comment