The US administration is still mulling over the best way to help post-revolution Egypt, but slowness in decision-making ignores the fragile state of the country, writes Ezzat Ibrahim in Washington Last week, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held a hearing session on the "shifting sand in the Arab world and American foreign policy towards the Arab Spring". US legislators came to the room with a lot of questions on President Barack Obama's policy in the region from Morocco to Bahrain. Representatives of the State Department were cornered with questions from sceptical members regarding the situation in the Arab world. Most members avoided discussing the issue of US economic assistance to Cairo because of the squabble over next year's federal budget. According to one US official, the administration is facing a real difficulty in convincing Congress to move forward with a significant plan to help the Egyptian economy through a debt relief plan. In a major step, a US official told The Washington Post on Sunday that the Obama administration would annul $1 billion of Egypt's debts of $3.5 billion. "The aid would be part of a major economic aid package that also includes trade and investment incentives, officials said. It is intended to help stabilise Egypt after demonstrations forced out president Hosni Mubarak on 11 February," the newspaper reported. During a visit to Washington last month, Egyptian Finance Minister Samir Radwan and Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abul- Naga asked American legislators in private meetings to annul all Egypt's debts, but Washington answered with a cold-shoulder response. The US embassy in Cairo issued a statement saying that the US government "is still considering how to assist the Egyptian economy and help the country's transition to democracy". "We are still in the process of consultations over how the US may assist Egypt economically as it moves forward in its transition to democracy," the embassy said. Also, the State Department spokesperson said the US Congress would have to be consulted on any proposal. In a joint statement, Michael Posner, assistant secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, and Tamara Wittes, deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, notified House members that they are still considering specific projects to help the Egyptian economy. These include structuring an "enterprise fund" for Egypt to increase access to capital available to the private sector, particularly for small and medium enterprises and the possible expansion of the Qualifying Industrial Zone programme. Also, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour will use a portion of the $165 million in economic support funds for Egypt for politics and media training. The US government has only assured Egypt of $165 million to stabilise the economy, meeting immediate needs, and helping nascent civic society organisations. According to sources close to talks between the US and Egyptian governments, the debate on economic and financial assistance goes beyond money issues. Talks include a number of other sensitive points in post-revolution Egypt, such as the status of the Muslim Brotherhood in the future political system and its possibility of ascending to power in the upcoming parliamentarian elections. The dialogue also sees an exchange of views on the Palestinian reconciliation deal signed in Cairo last week and the Egypt-Gaza border issue. Wittes underlined in front of Congress that any future Palestinian government should accept the principles of the International Quartet. The Obama administration's vision of the relationship with Egypt is split between different government branches: the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Council (NSC). The latter is influencing the White House decision-making process more than any other agency. The NSC is about to recommend to the White House a comprehensive plan to deal with the fragile Egyptian situation. A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed to Al-Ahram Weekly that the "Obama administration is weighing the possibility of starting a dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood to understand the positions of the group... before the upcoming elections, and at the same time the US administration will keep pushing for more political openness and providing an equal chance for all forces to compete in the next elections." Also, the US administration is evaluating post- revolution Egyptian foreign policy, especially on Israel and Iran. Foreign Minister Nabil El-Arabi, in interview with the Washington Post last Sunday, assured the US public that, "This concept of opening up and turning a new page does not affect our relations with the United States or anyone. Your closest friends and allies -- the UK, France and Germany -- all have diplomatic relations with Iran. I don't see the problem. All your allies have relations with Iran." Egypt's new foreign policy paradigm, according to El-Arabi, is based on a new vision: "We want to open a new page with all the countries in the world. As such, we contacted Hamas. We pressed that we would like to get unity between the Palestinian factions so that they would be ready to enter into negotiations with Israel." Many within the US policymaking circles are asking for clarity. Nevertheless, Scott Carpenter, from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, asked the US government to focus "on helping the transitional process in Egypt and Tunisia," adding "it is premature to ponder a new regional strategy." One Western diplomat described the current ambiguity, saying, "The Americans are not perfect with patience; at the same time their response is not adequate and it is complicated because Washington cannot prevent the course of events in the region."
