The killing of Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin has cast a dark shadow over relations between Egypt and the US In the early morning of 22 March, William Burns, US assistant secretary of state, was visiting Egypt in his capacity as Middle East peace envoy, Gamal Essam El-Din reports. He was unaware that at the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was ordering the assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin. The killing in Gaza dealt a blow to a scheduled Cairo meeting that day, which had been arranged 10 days before to include envoys of the quartet group, namely the US, the UN, Russia and the EU. Burns met with President Mubarak a few hours after news of the assassination spread around the world. Following their discussion, President Mubarak reported that his talks with Burns had touched on the killing of Yassin. "I think [the Americans] were taken aback by this act. Israel might have exploited the fact that America is busy following its presidential elections and decided to carry out this act," President Mubarak said. Burns declined to hold a press conference following his meeting with President Mubarak. The press conference was expected to bring US policies under sharp criticism. Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, meanwhile, said that Israel's decision to kill Yassin at this particular time has a very dangerous political significance. "Israel chose a time when great international efforts were being amassed to achieve peace in the region," he said. President Mubarak said the assassination means that the US needs to clarify its involvement in the peace process. "This also must apply to Israel's pull-out from Gaza. This pull-out must be complete and form a basic part of the entire peace process in coordination with the Palestinian side," Mubarak said. President Mubarak's upcoming trip to the US also figured prominently on the agenda of his talks with Burns, according to Maher. The foreign minister quoted Burns as saying that America is looking forward to receiving President Mubarak next month. Mubarak is scheduled to meet US President George W Bush on 12 April. Israel's ongoing aggression against the Palestinians, US refusals to deal with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the US push to isolate Syria internationally and expose it to strict sanctions have been among the factors straining Egyptian-American relations recently. The killing of Yassin further embarrassed Cairo because of its strategic relations with the US, who in turn is openly supportive of Sharon's hard-line policies. Ahmed Abu Zeid, chairman of parliament's Arab Affairs Committee, believes that Sharon's killing of Yassin had two external goals. "First, it was aimed to embarrass Arab leaders before their peoples at the next Arab summit and second to mar relations between America and its Arab allies, especially Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia," said Abu Zeid. Egyptian opposition figures also think that the killing of Yassin at this time may ruin President Mubarak's visit to the US. One opposition MP told Al-Ahram Weekly that Yassin's killing humiliates all Arab leaders who are planning to visit America and talk with Bush. "Sharon may embark on committing more irresponsible and bloody acts in the near future. If visits of Arab leaders to America are to be conducted irrespective of Sharon's cunning machinations, they will be destined to create a big gap between them and their people," Hamdeen Sabahi, an opposition MP, told the Weekly. Sabahi thinks that President Mubarak's visit should be postponed until the current bloodshed between the Palestinians and the Israelis comes to a stop. Abu Zeid, however, thinks that the visit is all the more necessary because of the perilous situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories, so that President Mubarak can try to persuade Bush to change the US's ambivalent attitude towards the peace process and acceptance of Sharon's policies. Egyptian politicians believe that Yassin's assassination and the regional turmoil it has instigated is proof that the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict must have priority over any moves aimed at advancing democracy in the Middle East and the Arab world. Mohamed Abdallah, chairman of Alexandria University and former long-time head of parliament's foreign affairs, told the Weekly "I hope that the Americans now fully recognise that their so-called Greater Middle East Project is destined to collapse as long as they insisted on ignoring the Arab-Israeli conflict," said Abdallah. The US's Greater Middle East Initiative was also a major source of tension in Egyptian-American relations in the past month. On Monday, the US Embassy hosted a meeting that included the Middle East envoys of the US, UN, Russia, and the EU. Middle East News Agency said the meeting, which was scheduled 10 days in advance, tackled the US-drafted roadmap and the repercussions of Yassin's killing on the quartet efforts to promote peace in the Middle East. No official statement was issued following the quartet meeting. See: Focus: Ahmed Yassin
