Having registered a vote of no confidence in US policy in the Middle East, Egypt is turning to multilateral diplomacy as a possible solution to regional woes. Dina Ezzat reports Traditional US-Egyptian coordination on stability and security in the Middle East is being seriously challenged these days. Burgeoning Egyptian concerns over the continual mishaps of US foreign policy, and military strategy, in the Middle East is widening the rift between Cairo and Washington. Particularly worrying to Cairo is the US approach to crises in the Palestinian territories and Iraq. Egyptian concerns were clearly voiced this week in a statement made by President Hosni Mubarak. Marking the 22nd anniversary of the liberation of the Sinai Peninsula, Mubarak warned of the possible dire consequences of the US mismanagement of the Iraqi and Palestinian issues. "The situation in Iraq now reflects an unprecedented tragic dilemma that resulted from an unjustified and illegal occupation of Iraq, and from the failure of the occupation forces to maintain Iraq's security and its territorial and ethnic unity," Mubarak said. Mubarak also reiterated his open criticism of the recent shift in US policy in mediating the Arab-Israeli conflict, demonstrated with a new set of assurances issued from Washington to Tel Aviv over what Palestinian rights could be regarded as annulled. Bush -- in contradiction with the text and spirit of international law, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and all Palestinian-Israeli peace agreements -- put in writing to Sharon that Israel would not be required to give up all territories occupied since 1967 while erasing from the record the "right of return" whereby Palestinians expelled from their homes and villages in 1948 would be afforded the opportunity of going back. These assurances, President Mubarak said, constitute "a violation" of Palestinian rights as stipulated by international consensus, undermining the chances of securing the comprehensive Middle East peace that Egypt hoped would come out of its own peace treaty with Israel, signed 25 years ago. Mubarak called on the European Union and the Quartet, where traditionally he would have called alone on the US, to exert necessary efforts to make sure that the planned Israeli disengagement from Gaza be implemented in harmony with the roadmap. Also this week, Mubarak sent a letter to US President George W Bush to warn of the grave consequences of any Israeli attempt to harm elected Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Coming in the wake of new threats made against Arafat by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Mubarak's message called on Washington to act to curb Israeli "irrationality" and to explain to the Israeli government that it has "no green light" to assassinate or expel Arafat. "In his message, as in his recent talks with the US president, President Mubarak made it clear that the current increasing US bias towards the Israeli point of view is going to bring unmitigated violence to the region, to US interests and its image," an Egyptian diplomatic source said. Egyptian and US diplomats alike agree that the tone and diction of Mubarak's speech on Sinai Liberation Day and his message to the US president reflect Cairo's open frustration with US policy in the Middle East. "For us our relations with Washington are essential. We cannot harm those relations in any way. But we also expect the US to worry about these relations since they serve its interests as much as they serve ours," a Washington-based Egyptian diplomat said. Egypt believes that with its current economic difficulties it cannot be expected to put up with mounting political disorder on its eastern borders due to unyielding Israeli violence against Palestinians and the potential "imprisonment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip". "This, we believe, is the outcome of the unprecedented bias shown by the current US administration towards Israel. It is really too much," an Egyptian diplomat commented. Egypt also believes that increasing violence in Iraq could potentially cause either a civil war or a war of attrition by the multitude of armed Iraqi factions, even if uncoordinated, against the occupation forces. "This would be a disaster to regional stability. We warned the US against this war, but they did not listen. Now they insist to go ahead with plans that do not seem to be leading to a way out of the current crisis," the source added. What is most frustrating for Cairo is that it knows that its warnings to the US are being heard. They are simply ignored. "They listen to us attentively, or they seem to. But I believe it is hard to expect this administration to alter its policies on the Middle East now," the Washington source said. Egyptian sources say that Cairo "is not taking the indifference of the Bush administration to its warnings as an affront". "The fact of the matter is that the Americans are not listening to anyone now except Israel," an Egyptian diplomat said. "They are not listening to their own European allies. So if we are talking about a cold shoulder then they are giving everyone, not just Egypt, the cold shoulder. But it is not that I think that the neo-cons are so narrow-minded that they cannot see the argument of those who live in the region, or those who are closer to the region," the diplomat added. Despite its realisation that Washington is not really interested, Cairo seems determined to continue its efforts to explain to the US the impact of its current "confused policy on the Middle East". Egyptian Foreign Ministry sources say that, "Egypt cannot just say that the Americans are not changing their mind so we are not going to talk to them. This is not the way diplomacy works. We have to keep trying." But while it keeps trying, Egypt is also exploring possibilities of garnering international support for the need for a more-Arab sensitive approach to the Middle East. "I think that this is a moment where we believe in the benefits of multilateral diplomacy," said an Egyptian Foreign Ministry source. According to this source, instructions have been given to Egyptian diplomatic missions in both New York and Geneva -- the two seats of the UN -- to step up consultations and communication with European, Asian and Latin American delegations to explain the Arab point of view and to try to use whatever clout the UN still has in international politics to ensure a more even-handed approach towards the Arab-Israeli conflict. Egypt is also hoping to use the UN to secure "a rational approach in dealing with the highly explosive situation in Iraq". In New York, Head of the Egyptian Permanent Delegation to the UN Ahmed Abu El-Gheit, said that as the current chair of the Arab Group in the UN, Egypt is trying hard to rally support for a UN General Assembly resolution to denounce Israeli coercion of Palestinian people and attempts to liquidate legitimate Palestinian rights. The Egyptian mission in New York is also working to ensure that the possible new Security Council resolution on Iraq, which the US is trying to pass by mid-May, will include clear language on the right of the Iraqi people to restore their full sovereignty, and that the occupation forces should curtail all resort to military force in dealing with political instability. In Geneva, the Egyptian permanent mission is trying to secure the humanitarian and legal rights of Iraqi people under occupation as defined by the Fourth Geneva Convention that prohibits current US military attacks against innocent civilians in Iraq. "It would be silly to think that we want to defy the US but what we want is to make sure that the US does not abandon its promises, either on having an independent Palestinian state in 2005 or to maintain the territorial integrity of Iraq," an Egyptian diplomat explained. Egypt is also trying to coordinate with Europe and Russia. In May, on the margin of his participation in the foreign ministers meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership in Ireland, Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher is expected to hold bilateral sessions with the foreign minister of Ireland, the current chair of the European Union and with the foreign ministers of France and Germany to discuss plans of action for Palestine and Iraq. In Moscow, late in May, President Mubarak will also be talking about possible international action on Palestine and Iraq with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Egypt is not counting on a single party to get the Middle East peace process moving. We are currently talking to all international parties," Maher said on Monday. Speaking to reporters following talks with visiting Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, Maher declined to say what made Egypt stop "counting mainly on the US as a mediator of the Middle East peace process". According to both Maher and Qurei, the current situation in the Middle East has a negative impact on international security and stability and should therefore by addressed by all concerned. Meanwhile, Egypt is also hoping for a quick convocation of the Arab League summit. As Egyptian sources put it, "the situation is too troubling to be left unattended by Arab state which are going to be the first to suffer from the consequences of the current dilemmas in Palestine and Iraq." Moreover, Egypt is also talking to Israel, the Palestinians and various Iraqi political factions to try to prevent the situation from getting out of hand. Egyptian officials say that during the past few days Cairo warned the Israeli government about the impact of its aggressive policies. They also say that Maher might be considering a bilateral meeting with his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom while in Ireland during the Euro-Mediterranean meeting. Further, according to Maher, Egypt is considering hosting a meeting for the neighbouring countries of Iraq, to follow up on current disturbing developments. Egyptian officials say that they are expecting growing regional instability due to the mistakes made by the US during the past year, but they add that they are working hard to minimise the scope and level of instability.
