US to resume contacts with Muslim Brotherhood

WASHINGTON IS set to resume contacts with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, secretary of state Hillary Clinton said yesterday.

She justified the Obama administration’s change in policy by saying that the brotherhood, founded in 1928 as an anti-colonial and evangelical movement, is committed to non-violent political activity.

“We believe, given the changing political landscape in Egypt, that it is in the interests of the United States to engage with all parties that are peaceful, and committed to non-violence, that intend to compete for the parliament and the presidency,” she said. “Now in any of those contacts, prior or future, we will continue to emphasise the importance of and support for democratic principles and especially a commitment to non-violence, respect for minority rights, and the full inclusion of women in any democracy,” she added.

While she portrayed the Obama administration’s decision as a continuation of an earlier policy, it reflects a subtle shift because US officials will now be able to deal directly with brotherhood officials who are not members of parliament. The standing arrangement has been to contact the independent lawmakers backed by the brotherhood, which under ousted president Hosni Mubarak was banned but tolerated.

The brotherhood responded by saying official contacts with the US will be beneficial once these are made. “We welcome such relationships with everyone because those relations will lead to clarifying our views [on different issues]. But it won’t include or be based on any intervention in the internal affairs of the country,” spokesman Muhammad Saad el- Katatni asserted. He is also secretary general of the brotherhood’s new political wing, the Freedom and Justice party.

Among the issues on which there are major differences are the role of women in political life and Egypt’s relations with Israel. The brotherhood would not back a woman seeking to be elected president of Egypt while the movement has called for renegotiation of certain clauses in the country’s peace treaty with Israel. The brotherhood has pressed for an end to the preferential price of Egyptian gas sold by Cairo to Israel.

This demand has been accepted by the post-Mubarak government which is also set to charge Jordan a higher price. The US established tentative relations with the brotherhood during the 1940s and has encouraged Saudi Arabia to support the movement as a counterweight to secular pan-Arab nationalist parties.