Have Cairo and Washington set the priorities of their bilateral relationship straight? Not necessarily, argues Dina Ezzat The newly appointed US charge d' affairs to Cairo arrived on Wednesday. Stuart Jones, who served in Turkey and as governor coordinator in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, arrived at Cairo International Airport from Washington, according to sources speaking on customary conditions of anonymity. The position has been vacant for several weeks, since Golden Gray ended his post in Egypt. The position of ambassador, however, remains vacant, as former ambassador David Welch returned to the State Department in Washington to take the post of assistant secretary of state. A new US ambassador is expected to arrive in Cairo, US and Egyptian sources say, before the end of the year to fill the post. Cairo does not read much into the conspicuous delay in sending a replacement for Welch -- especially considering the numerous visits by senior US officials to Egypt during the past few weeks. Since US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Cairo on 19 and 20 June, three senior US officials have been to town. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East Liz Cheney, US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zollick and Assistant Secretary of State Welch have all visited Egypt. The three US officials held discussions with Egyptian officials and members of NGOs on the same issues that Rice discussed with Egyptian officials: peace, stability and change in the region, and democracy, reform and freedom in Egypt. According to Egyptian and US officials, this series of high-level visits offered opportunities for direct contact and face-to-face communication on a set of pressing domestic, regional and international issues that range from the possibility of allowing international monitors to observe the upcoming presidential elections in Egypt, the role that Egypt can play in supporting the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, bringing political stability and security to Iraq, and Egypt's interest in a permanent presence on the UN Security Council, representing Africa. However, sources on both sides offered different accounts of the order of priorities and the level of agreement reached. The Egyptian side believes that the US has decided to prioritise joint Washington-Cairo efforts to contain the havoc in Iraq and help to create stability in Gaza. Egypt and the US, Cairo sources say, are negotiating with Israel on security management of Gaza in the post-withdrawal phase. This, they say, is crucial for the Americans who "really want to make this withdrawal a success that the US president can talk about to divert the attention of a public disappointed with his performance in Iraq". Welch told reporters that he spoke in detail with Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit about the Egyptian contribution to help make the "process of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza take place fully and on time". The American side believes that Washington's message to Cairo is clear: "both things, domestic reform and regional stability, can happen at the same time," says a Cairo-based American diplomat. Visiting US officials made statements that put equal emphasis on both regional and domestic agendas. During their meetings with representative of the Egyptian NGOs, Cheney and Zollick affirmed that Washington will not give up on them in their quest to democratise Egypt and to secure fair and free presidential and parliamentary elections in the autumn of this year. US officials added that they were "very up-front with Egyptian officials" about the need to have international observers work alongside domestic observers to monitor the elections "that the whole world will be looking to". Egyptian officials say that they listened to American viewpoints on democracy, since democratic elections are an endeavour that Egypt has chosen to pursue "out of its own free will". But, according to one diplomatic source, Cairo made clear to the visiting American officials "this is what we can do and this is what we cannot do." The Egyptian government, official and non-official sources say, has agreed to allow the US to contribute generous funds to NGOs that pursue the cause of democracy. "We see it as assistance for capacity building since this money goes to train non-governmental organisations that work under the rules and regulations of Egyptian laws to acquire particular skills that they need for their performance," one source explained. However, NGO sources suggest that the US decision to allocate several million dollars in assistance to NGOs that promote democracy in Egypt is a clear sign that while Washington may wish to accommodate the Egyptian government on issues related to democracy in view of the American need for Egyptian support on the "regional nightmares in Iraq and Palestine", the US is still committed to promote democracy in Egypt. Cheney and Zollick have both made it clear during the past two weeks that Washington will allocate a budget of around $5 million to train political parties for participation in the electoral process. The funds come from the National Endowment for Democracy and under the Broad Middle East North Africa Initiative (BMENA) that was adopted by the G8 in 2004 to promote democracy and good-governance across the region. Late last month, representatives of several Egyptian NGOs and opposition parties went to Istanbul to participate in a workshop on women's participation in public life that was held under the BMENA. This week, participants went to Venice for a roundtable on political participation. The Egyptian government tolerates these activities provided that they are not coupled with harsh statements from Washington on the process of democracy in Egypt. Egyptian and American officials are always keen to refer, in public, to their bilateral relationship as strategic. For Cairo, this strategic relationship should prompt the US to demonstrate sensitivity to the need for the Egyptian government to pursue democracy on its own terms, especially since Egypt has offered what it considers 'ample support' to the US on Palestine and Iraq even when it has some reservations about US plans. For the Americans, however, it seems that the strategic relationship between the two countries, as demonstrated by the generous economic and military aid given to Egypt, should prompt Cairo to be responsive to US calls for democracy and regional stability at the same time.
