Nevine Khalil delves behind the frost that has beset relations between Cairo and Washington The announcement this week that President Hosni Mubarak has no plans to visit the US any time soon was one more manifestation of the ups and downs of recent bilateral relations between Cairo and Washington. "No US trip by President Mubarak was scheduled in order to be cancelled," presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad told reporters this week. The announcement served as an eloquent commentary on the cool breezes that have engulfed relations between Cairo and Washington following differences over political reform and freedom of expression in Egypt. For years Mubarak has made at least one trip a year to Washington, meeting with executive and legislative leaders as well as the business community and other US foreign policy players. But this year, according to Awwad, "the president's schedule for overseas trips is very condensed and mainly focussed on Arab and African visits." Speaking to reporters after outgoing US Ambassador to Cairo David Welch ended a farewell meeting with Mubarak on Monday, Awwad said that Mubarak's "overseas engagements this year did not include a trip to the US". For his part, Welch gave a standard diplomatic answer: "President Mubarak is welcome in the United States any time. He's a regular visitor and we value his advice and counsel very much." In his farewell statement posted on the US Embassy's website Welch noted that Egypt and the US have worked together closely in recent years and "the partnership between the US and Egypt has held firm through all of these events." "Under President Mubarak's leadership Egypt has been a strong and valued partner to the United States in working to solve the region's most pressing problems," the statement read. Washington has relied on Cairo to push for progress in the peace process. February's Sharm El-Sheikh was perhaps the most dramatic result of that dynamic. In addition Cairo has sponsored dialogue among Palestinian factions relaunched on Tuesday; assisted the Palestinian Authority in rebuilding its security and administrative apparatus and is preparing to send troops to patrol the border with Gaza once Israeli troops withdraw from the Gaza Strip. Egypt has also worked to calm tensions between Syria and the US over Syria's presence in Lebanon, has supported the rebuilding and rehabilitation of Iraq and is a key player in resolving the conflict in Darfur. On the domestic front Mubarak has asked parliament to amend the Constitution to allow for multi-candidate presidential elections in September. In a separate development Ayman Nour, leader of the Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party was released from detention last week pending an investigation into allegations of fraud. US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher reacted by saying that the US is "pleased that Nour is free to continue his work... we look forward to further steps that the Egyptian government will take... to expand political participation in Egyptian society." Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif's trip to Washington, scheduled this month, has now been postponed, while a member of an Egyptian business delegation visiting the US this week told Al-Ahram Weekly that the "atmosphere this time is not as friendly as before". In another signal that all is not well between the two capitals, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit criticised Washington's position over reform in an interview with The Washington Post published on 10 March. Abul- Gheit stated that "the pace [of reform] will be set by Egypt and the Egyptian people, and only the Egyptian people." He added that the US should not subject Egypt "to any kind of pressure" in order for relationships to continue to thrive between the two countries. Abul-Gheit criticised President Bush's speech of 8 March at the National Defence University in which he argued that the Middle East is opening to an era of democracy -- in Iraq, the Palestinian territories, and Lebanon -- following the US invasion of Iraq. "What model are we talking about in Iraq?" asked Abul-Gheit. "Bombs are exploding everywhere and Iraqis are killed every day in the streets... Palestinian elections? There were elections seven years before the invasion." On Lebanon, Abul-Gheit pointed out that large pro-Syrian demonstrations were organised by Hizbullah on the same day as Bush's speech. Administration officials were displeased with Abul-Gheit's statements, and attempts to retract them left officials in Washington unmoved. Informed sources in the State Department confirmed to the Weekly that relations between Cairo and Washington were "not necessarily in best shape" due to differences over the democracy issue. The official line in Cairo is that bilateral relations are suffering from nothing more than the usual "ups and downs" of any strategic relationship and that Cairo and Washington share common ground with regards to reform in Egypt, differing only over speed and a few civil rights issues. The notion that the US is pressuring Egypt is a misconception, according to Cairo, and recent rhetoric giving that impression is a question of style rather than substance. The Bush administration puts its message across "by touting a big stick", say sources close to bilateral relations, whereas Bill Clinton could convey the same point "in a more palatable manner". Meanwhile, says the same source, Cairo has issues with Washington's regional initiatives, the invasion of Iraq and "the whole mantra of change and reform" which the US is chanting. For his part Bush seems uncertain whether he wants to work with Egypt to pursue common goals such as the peace process or whether he wants to insist that Egypt become the model for reform in the region. "It's a question of pragmatism versus idealism, and a combination of both," suggested the source, "and this indecision is making Egypt uncomfortable." US pressure on Egypt to reform is a double- edged sword. "While US influence has contributed to political and economic development in Egypt, how much pressure is appropriate or helpful is another question," the source stated. The Committee on International Relations at the House of Representatives passed a resolution last week condemning the Egyptian government's arrest of Nour and calling for his immediate release. Several similar resolutions are currently circulating in Congress, all expressing dissatisfaction with the Egyptian government's record on democracy and calling upon the Bush administration to put more pressure on Cairo to make bolder reforms, a source at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington told the Weekly. In the face of such criticisms of Egypt within the US administration, Congress and media, officials cite visits by several Congressional groups to Cairo next week as a sign that relations are not quite as frosty as they appear. A Congressional Black Caucus group led by Representative Carolyn Kilpatrick, a delegation of Democrat representatives led by Democrat House leader Nancy Pelosi, the Republican Senator Gordon Smith and Republican House Representative David Dreier are all expected in Cairo. Not that this has prevented the G8-Arab League meeting on Arab reform, which was scheduled for the beginning of this month, from being cancelled. The cancellation followed Abul-Gheit's trip to the US last month during which political reform -- and Nour's release -- topped the US agenda. Additional reporting by Khaled Dawoud in Washington.
