US Secretary Kerry Talks Democracy, Iraq During Egypt Visit
by VOA News June 22, 2014
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks on Sunday with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo over concerns about Egypt's crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and the threat that the conflict in Iraq poses to the Middle East.
Kerry is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Egypt since el-Sissi, the former military leader who toppled Islamist President Mohamed Morsi after mass protests last year, won a presidential election in May.
His visit comes a day after an Egyptian court confirmed death sentences against 183 members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, including its leader Mohamed Badie, in a mass trial on charges of violence in which one policeman was killed.
Human rights concerns
The Obama administration has said it looks forward to working with el-Sissi's government but expressed concerns over widespread human rights abuses and limits on freedom of expression.
"This is a critical moment of transition in Egypt [and] enormous challenges," Kerry said before an earlier meeting with Egypt's new foreign minister Sameh Shukri. "There are issues of concern ... but we know how to work at these."
Shukri told his American counterpart that the relationship between the U.S. and Egypt should be based on "mutual respect and joined interests and with no interference in internal affairs," according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry.
A senior State Department official said Washington was worried about the use of heavy-handed political and security tactics by Egypt's authorities, which he said was polarizing Egyptian society.
U.S. officials acknowledged they were 'balancing' different strategic interests in what is a 'complicated' relationship with Egypt.
"They in some ways are radicalizing certain aspects of Egyptian society in ways that are not supportive of overall stability in Egypt," said the official, who briefed reporters en route to Cairo, Reuters reported.
Still, the official said there had been "a few flickering signs of positive movement" in recent weeks.
Among these was the release of an Al Jazeera journalist, steps to start addressing sexual violence against women and el-Sissi's call during his first cabinet meeting for the revision of the human rights law.
'There's a strong desire on the part of the United States for this transition to succeed,' a senior State Department official said, the French news agency AFP reported.
'We have a longstanding relationship ... that's built on several different pillars. It's at a difficult juncture right now, that's true, and we have serious concerns about the political environment,' the official added.
Egypt, one of only two Arab nations to have a peace treaty with Israel, has long been seen as a key strategic ally and a cornerstone to regional stability.
Cut off funds to militants
During his Middle East tour, Kerry is discouraging Arab nations from sending financial support to even moderate opposition Sunni groups in Syria, fearing the aid could be used to help the growing insurgency in Iraq.
Kerry said he delivered that message to el-Sissi during their meeting Sunday in Cairo, adding that he plans to make the same case to other leaders in Sunni-dominated Arab states over the next several days.
He said he will urge Arab states to work together to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.
Also Sunday, U.S. officials revealed that $572 million (420 million euros) of U.S. aid, which had been frozen since October, was released to the Cairo government about 10 days ago after finally winning a green light from Congress.
The funds will mainly go to pay existing defense contracts.
Apache helicopters
U.S. officials announced in April they planned to resume some of the annual $1.5 billion in mostly military aid to Cairo, including 10 Apache helicopter gunships for counterterrorism efforts in the Sinai Peninsula.
Kerry said he was 'confident' Egypt would receive Apache gunships soon. But the aircraft remain in storage in the U.S., an official had confirmed Sunday.
Kerry also said on Sunday the U.S. wanted the Iraqi people to find a leadership that is prepared to represent all Iraqis, but Washington would not pick or choose the leadership in Baghdad.
Kerry was speaking in Cairo on the first day of a Middle East tour, during which he is expected to visit Iraq, where Sunni militants have seized swathes of territory and large amounts of weaponry from Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's troops.
The U.S. has expressed concern about a strong crackdown on dissent since el-Sissi first took power as the country's military chief last July, ousting the Muslim Brotherhood.
The crackdown has left hundreds of people dead and thousands of others have been imprisoned since the military took power from Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi.
The government has since outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood and sentenced hundreds of its members and other protesters to death in trials that lasted only a few hours.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, AFP and AP.
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