Experts say NGOs case will not jeopardize U.S.-Egypt ties
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E-mail Xinhua, February 10, 2012
U.S.-Egypt ties will not be dramatically hurt by Egyptian actions against U.S. non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which Egypt claims have illegally meddled in politics, according to experts.
Cairo referred 43 NGO staff, including 19 Americans, to court on Feb. 5 on charges of operating without a license. In response, Washington has threatened to end aid to its key Middle East ally.
Experts said the Egyptian government was trying to divert public attention from domestic trouble to external threats, by moving against NGOs amid protracted protests.
They said the confrontation between the two countries, which have maintained strategic relations for decades, would force the "gaming" to become more complicated.
CONFLICTS OVER NGOs
The Egyptian government asserted the NGOs' work constituted "pure political activities which had nothing to do with civil society work."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her "deep concerns" after meeting her Egyptian counterpart in Munich at the weekend, saying the situation could affect the rest of their relationship.
U.S. Republican senator John McCain said the current crisis would obviously threaten their long-standing partnership.
Washington, which provides Cairo with 1.3 billion U.S. dollars in aid each year, has called on the Egyptian government to lift a travel ban on American NGO staff.
The organizations, which have been under investigation since last December, include the U.S. International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Freedom House.
Following December's raids, Egypt banned several American members of the NGOs from leaving the country, including Sam Lahood, the director of IRI's Egyptian branch.
INTENTION TO SUPPRESS PROTESTS
Experts said NGOs in Egypt funded protests and demonstrations after the Jan. 25, 2011 revolution that ousted President Hosni Mubarak last year and that was the main reason for the government's action.
An Egyptian official said the groups received a total of 175 million U.S. dollars in "illegal funding" from the United States, Europe and Arab countries between March and June in 2011, three times more than the total for the previous four years.
An Egypt-based expert on the Middle East said the United States used dual norms on the NGO cases. On one hand, Washington had not allowed non-governmental organizations to operate in the United States without a license since Sept. 9, 2001, and had closed many registered Arab-Islamic groups.
On the other hand, its NGOs operated in Egypt illegally and funded activities against the government.
STRATEGIC RELATIONS REMAIN
The United States has considered re-examining its military and economic aid to Egypt due to the conflict and pressure from internal interest groups.
Experts said NGOs had intertwined relations with senior officials of the Obama administration, whose interests were affected by Egypt's raids on the groups.
Washington hopes to use the aid to force Egypt's military junta to hand over power to the newly elected government and make some concessions on regional issues, including relations with Israel.
However, experts believed it would not destroy military cooperation due to their strategic interdependence.
The United States would not cut off funds to Egypt unless Cairo breached a peace agreement with Israel, one expert said.
Egypt relied on the United States in maintaining regional security, especially in border areas and training local forces to stabilize the internal situation, according to a local newspaper.
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