Egyptian Parliament Scoffs at US Interference

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 21, 2002

Egyptian Parliament Scoffs at US Interference

The Egyptian People's Assembly Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday scoffed at a US linkage between its aid to Egypt and Egypt's judicial affairs.

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The Egyptian People's Assembly Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday scoffed at a US linkage between its aid to Egypt and Egypt's judicial affairs.

"The US stance on linking its assistance to Egypt with a judicial ruling by an Egyptian court comes at a time when the United States is supporting Israel in its human rights violation against the Palestinians," the committee said in a statement, carried by the official MENA news agency.

"It would be more appropriate for the United States to link its assistance to Israel with atrocities perpetrated by Israeli troops in the Palestinian lands," the committee said, while urging the United States to review such a stance.

Last Thursday, the US press said the United States will not offer new aid to Egypt due to the way it handled the case of an Egyptian American human rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim.

Later on, White House spokesman Claire Buchan confirmed that "asa friend and ally, we will meet our Camp David commitments, but at this time, we don't contemplate additional funds beyond the Camp David commitments."

Egypt has swiftly defied the US linkage, saying it "rejects any pressure from any side."

"The Egyptian court has already handed down a verdict in Ibrahim's case" and there is no need for Egypt to clarify its stance again that it does not interfere in the judiciary's affairs," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters on Thursday.

"It is imperative for all countries to respect the Egyptian judiciary's rulings, and any attempt to pressure Egypt in this regard will be fruitless," he stressed.

Ibrahim, 63, was sentenced to seven years in jail in July on the charge of tarnishing Egypt's image by spreading false information about the country.

Egypt has been a key ally of the United States in the Mideast region since Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

Since then, the United States has offered Egypt about 2 billion US dollars each year in forms of military and civilian aid.

The US linkage between aid and judicial affairs may prevent Egypt from receiving a 150-million-dollar aid designed to offset losses in its tourism revenues, a key hard currency earner, due to the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

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