After US called for foreign monitors in Nov. 28 polls
Egypt accused the United States on Thursday of meddling in its affairs in an unusually harsh criticism after Washington called for foreign monitors in this month’s election and met with a group pressing for reform.
"The latest positions taken by the administration towards internal Egyptian affairs is something that is absolutely unacceptable," the foreign ministry said of the country’s ally.
On Monday, the State Department called on Egypt to hold a free election and allow international monitors to observe the Nov. 28 parliamentary poll.
Spreading "chaos in the Middle East"
Egypt was particularly upset over a Nov. 2 meeting in Washington between U.S. President Barack Obama’s national security advisors and a group of U.S. foreign policy analysts who are pushing for reforms in Egypt.
The bi-partisan group was described as "the same type of groups that want to spread chaos in the Middle East."
Egypt’s past parliamentary elections have been marred by violence and irregularities, and Egyptian rights groups say the vote has already been compromised by the arrests of many opposition activists.
Rights groups also say rights violations such as torture are routine in the country, which the government denies.
"It is as if the United States has turned into a caretaker of how Egyptian society should conduct its own politics," the foreign ministry statement quoted an unnamed official as saying. "Whoever thinks that this is possible is deluded."
The statement said the tradition of mutual respect would be honored as long as the United States reciprocated in it.
Egypt, one of two Arab countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel, receives billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid.
While never under serious threat, ties underwent a chill in the past decade after then president George W. Bush pressed Egypt to hold free elections and release dissidents.
Obama restored warmth to the relationship and was seen to have shied away from Bush’s robust democracy advocacy.
The new tone, analysts say, partly reflects U.S. uncertainty about Egypt’s future.
Concerned about "where this country is headling"
The country will vote for a president next year, and it is still unknown whether 82-year-old incumbent Hosni Mubarak, in power since 1981, will run for another term.
His successor will probably come from the ruling party or the military and other contenders are not expected to have a serious chance.
"Like many people in Egypt, the Americans are concerned about where this country is heading," said Issandr al-Amrani, a Cairo-based analyst.
Michele Dunne, who attended the Nov. 2 meeting, said the administration was still trying to form a coherent policy on democracy and human rights after initially distancing itself from Bush’s agenda.
"In its first year the Obama administration said almost nothing about these rights. Human rights groups were upset about that, and not primarily about Egypt," said Dunne, a former State Department Middle East specialist and analyst with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"Egypt’s case is before them right now because of the elections and probably an impending leadership succession," she said.
"There is a growing concern that we have this ally and we want them to be our ally, but think that the way to promote greater stability is not to prevent all change," she said.
Washington-based analyst Robert Satloff, who met with senior ruling party officials in Cairo a week after the Washington meeting, which he attended, said the Obama team was "eager for the Egyptian government to be as legitimate as possible."