Clinton, Tantawi Meet to Discuss Egypt Political Transition

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of

Egypt’s military council, to urge a smooth transition to full

democratic rule, a day after crowds protested her meeting with

President Mohamed Mursi and the rising power of Islamists.

Tensions between Egypt’s new civilian leader and its senior

generals, who took interim power after the ouster of former

President Hosni Mubarak last year, have risen since Tantawi’s

council stripped Mursi of some of his powers and granted itself

legislative authority after the court-ordered disbanding of the

parliament. Egypt still has no constitution, a new government

has yet to be named and the economy is struggling to recover

from the uprising against Mubarak.

Since arriving in the country yesterday, Clinton has

avoided any direct comment about the military’s power grab and

repeatedly stressed that Egypt’s future is for its citizens to

decide, not the U.S. A photo of her meeting today with Tantawi

showed the two of them seated in plush, gold-hued armchairs,

smiling as they chatted.

“I have come to Cairo to reaffirm the strong support of

the United States for the Egyptian people and their democratic

transition,” she said yesterday. “As you move forward, we will

be there with support. Your choices will decide the future of

this country.”

‘Provocative’ Meeting

Clinton’s decision to meet Tantawi was a “provocative”

act that contributes further to the political rift in the

country by giving the impression that Egypt has two leaders, the

Revolution Youth Union, one of the youth activist groups that

participated in last year’s uprising, said in an e-mailed

statement.

Mohamed el-Sayed, the group’s general coordinator, who is

also a member of the committee charged with drafting the

constitution, said in the statement that Clinton’s visit had

gone beyond a diplomatic trip and entered into the realm of

interfering in Egypt’s domestic affairs.

Security guards said an estimated 6,000 people crowded the

street in front of Clinton’s hotel when she arrived in the

capital of the Arab world’s most populous nation. The protesters

set off fireworks, flashed lime-green laser lights and chanted

as they waved Egyptian flags. One placard said, “Go to hell,

Hillary.” Another, reflecting anti-Muslim Brotherhood

sentiment, said “You like the Islamists, Hillary? Take them

with you.”

National Interest

Secularists and other groups have voiced concern that the

priority of Islamists such as Mursi, who comes from the ranks of

the Brotherhood, is to advance their own agenda and dominate

politics at the expense of the broader national interest. Many

say they are worried that the U.S. is lining up alongside the

Brotherhood, which was the dominant group in parliament before

the assembly was disbanded, and against the military.

Clinton said yesterday that the U.S. would like to see the

military return to a “purely national security role.” She also

spoke about the need for the Brotherhood and the generals to end

their standoff by engaging in talks, and called for “an

inclusive and transparent process to draft a new constitution

that upholds universal rights and the rule of law, a

constitution for all Egyptians.”

Economic Package

Clinton met with Tantawi for just over an hour, according

to a State Department official who spoke on condition of

anonymity as she wasn’t authorized to speak on the record. While

Clinton discussed the political transition and the military

council’s dialogue with Mursi, Tantawi said that what Egyptians

need most now is help getting the economy back on track, the

official said.

Clinton explained the economic package she outlined

yesterday and spoke about the importance of protecting the

rights of all Egyptians, including women and minorities. They

also had an extensive discussion of security issues and regional

stability, including regarding Sinai, the Israeli-Palestinian

peace process, Libya, Sudan and Syria, the official said.

“It will take dialogue and compromise among all

stakeholders and parties to achieve these goals and avoid

confrontations that could derail progress toward democracy,”

Clinton said yesterday during an appearance with Foreign

Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr.

Clinton spent the morning in Cairo today meeting with

Christian leaders, Egyptian women and a business for technology

entrepreneurs named Flat6Labs. Later today, she goes to

Alexandria to formally open a new U.S. consulate, before

continuing on to Israel. During her meeting with Mursi, she

underscored the value of Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel,

saying that in the last 30 years Egyptians have lived free of

conflict.

Economic Assistance

Since the January 2011 uprising, Clinton and several other

U.S. officials have come to Cairo for meetings in which she

“showed her encouragement and that of the American

administration to political Islam while ignoring all other civil

political movements in Egypt,” said a statement emailed by

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