U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently announced the U.S. administration's intention to officially renew dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. She said the move came as part of the administration's readiness to talk with any peaceful group wishing to participate in the Egyptian elections, and that this dialogue would be a continuation of limited and intermittent contact that had existed between the U.S. and the Muslim Brotherhood over the past six years.
Responding to Clinton's statements in an article published on the official website of the Muslim Brotherhood, its secretary general in Cairo, Dr. Muhammad Al-Biltagi, wrote that the movement had no personal interest in engaging in dialogue with the U.S., except as part of dialogue between the U.S. and Egypt as a whole. He added that the U.S.'s supportive stance toward Israel, its aggressive policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, and its support of Mubarak's anti-Muslim Brotherhood policies could not be ignored.
Following are excerpts from the article:[1]
The U.S. Must Change Its Policy toward Egypt
"Following Hillary Clinton's statements on contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood, I say: In her statements, the U.S. Secretary of State [used] a new expression, 'the limited contacts [that existed] with the Brotherhood,' which indicated that there were previous contacts – a false statement. There were no contacts between the sides, neither before the ouster of [Mubarak's] regime, nor after it, nor now.
SUPPORT OUR WORK
"We do not understand what is meant by the 'limited contacts with the movement' of which Clinton speaks. We understand [the expression] of open dialogue on Egyptian-American relations but not on relations between the Muslim Brotherhood and the U.S., since we do not have an agenda of problems or interests that concern the Muslim Brotherhood specifically which need to be discussed with the U.S. administration. What we need from the U.S. administration is for to it change the nature of its relations with Egypt, which, in the past, were based on dependency; on granting the U.S. authority to intervene directly in Egypt's domestic affairs via [U.S.] aid; on personal contacts with the tyrannical regime; and on keeping [this regime in power] in return for [its] protection of American interests, at the heart of which are the interests of the Zionist entity – [none of which] we can allow to continue.
"On the other hand, we welcome relations based on generosity and mutual respect, on respecting the special characteristics [of each side] and the common interests of the Egyptian and American peoples, and on respecting an individual, whatever his nationality may be. These relations cannot be detached from American positions in the Arab and Islamic regions, [positions] which have led to hatred of the U.S. This is due to the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the [U.S.'s] blind stance in favor of the Zionist entity's positions against the rights of the Palestinian people.
When we hear Clinton's statements on democracy, human rights, and minority rights, we must not forget that the U.S. administration used to coordinate with the previous Egyptian regime, and grant it a green light and an international cover for all forms of violence, oppression of political opponents, election fraud, and ignoring the majority's political and civil rights, let alone those of the minority. Furthermore, we must not forget that the U.S. administration's stance in favor of the Egyptian revolution came [only] after the power balance shifted toward the revolution and the revolutionaries."
We Will Not Agree to America Meddling in Egyptian Politics
"Although Clinton speaks of respecting the political map in Egypt and [all] its parts (including the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic forces) so long as they do not adopt violence, it is clear that the U.S. administration knew for decades that the Muslim Brotherhood opposes violence and strives for change in a peaceful manner. Despite this, the U.S. administration coordinated with the previous regime and let it continue its policy of exclusion, oppression, and violence toward the Muslim Brotherhood.
"Now that it accepts the new Egyptian political map, we demand that the U.S. administration refrain from meddling in order to alter this map and attempt to fashion it or create polarization in the Egyptian arena by materially and politically supporting certain forces and parties – under the guise of supporting democratization with the [actual] intent of fighting the Islamic stream. We want Egyptian pluralism that will give a voice to all streams and trends, so long as they are of pure Egyptian origin...
"We do not oppose dialogue with the U.S. administration, but we do not yearn for it either. What is most important is the basis of the dialogue, its subject, its seriousness, and its relevance to the interests of the Egyptian people. The chief question that remains is whether the U.S. administration is willing to realize its interests by building a just bond with the peoples of the region, after having built relations only with corrupt, tyrannical regimes, which our people have expelled and will never allow to return."
Endnote:
[1] Ikhwanonline.com, July 2, 2011. For more on previous contact between the Muslim Brotherhood and the U.S., see MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis Series Report No. 373, "Controversy Among Reformists in the Arab World Over Dialogue With Islamist Groups", July 18, 2007, Controversy Among Reformists in the Arab World Over Dialogue With Islamist Groups.
