Is the ruling military council addressing public discontent or seeking distractions, wonders Amirah Ibrahim Faced with demands that it hand over power earlier than it intends as well as be held accountable for its actions the ruling Supreme Council for Armed Forces (SCAF) appears to be adopting a tried and tested policy of furnishing the public with distractions, most notably as regards Egyptian-US relations. Last week, a military delegation which was on an official visit to the US halted meetings with Congress members and returned home. Chief of Staff and SCAF deputy Sami Anan ordered the suspension of the visit as a response to threats made by Congress members to cut Egypt's annual $1.3 billion military aid package. Although American politicians appear aware of the impact of such calls on already tense relations between Washington and Cairo statements made by the US State Department and the American embassy in Cairo suggest relations will deteriorate further, not least the request made by US Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson that travel bans on American citizens accused of violating NGO laws be lifted. On Saturday Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Cairo for talks with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and his deputy Anan, a move interpreted as an attempt to defuse the dispute. While the Egyptian authorities released no photos of the meetings and issued only a short and bland press statement official photographs on the US Defense Department's website showed Dempsey sharing a joke with Tantawi and being greeted on arrival at a military airbase by SCAF member Hassan El-Rweini. Dempsey toured in Cairo on 11 February, the anniversary of the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak. He also paid a visit to the American embassy. The following day the Egyptian authorities announced the arrest of an American student and an Australian journalist and their translator on suspicion of distributing cash to workers and inciting them to strike. Both foreigners were then released pending further investigations. On Monday the authorities released a months-old report that accused the US administration of providing cash to pro- democracy groups in violation of local laws. Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abul-Naga was quoted as telling judges investigating the activities of NGOs that the US and Israel were seeking to hijack the Egyptian revolution by providing cash to Western- friendly NGOs. Abul-Naga singled out some American NGOs by name. That the report was released following the departure of Dempsey suggests his attempts to contain the dispute have failed and SCAF has no plans to drop charges against the Americans, including the son of US Transport Secretary Ray LaHood. For months now SCAF members have blamed continuing unrest on unnamed foreign hands. A visit to Egypt by US Central Commander Martin Matiss scheduled for Monday was cancelled with no official reasons given. He was supposed to meet with Tantawi and other SCAF members. The fate of an announced visit by Congress members, headed by Republican John McCain, remains unknown. The furore around NGOs, says military analyst Major General Adel Fouda, is being used by SCAF "to assert Egyptian sovereignty long missed during the era of Mubarak when the US was free to meddle in Egypt's internal affairs". It is also a convenient sideshow at a time when the Muslim Brotherhood has announced its intention to form a new government. "We are ready to announce the names of nominees when we are asked by either SCAF or parliament," said Mahmoud Hussein, secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood. SCAF members have briefed they have no intentions of replacing Kamal El-Ganzouri or his cabinet. "There are no plans to dissolve the government until we hand power over to a civilian administration by the end of June as scheduled," insisted Anan. By Friday and Saturday it was becoming increasingly clear that public opinion is split over whether SCAF should step down now or continue in power till the end of June. Pro- and anti-SCAF groups were involved in clashes in both Cairo and Alexandria. On Friday SCAF issued a televised warning of a plot seeking to topple the state. When calls for a general strike on 11 February were not heeded the military rulers issued a message of thanks to the public on its website. Significantly, the message included for the first time a call for tolerance, inviting political movements to forget past conflicts and start afresh with the ruling military council. "We have never claimed a monopoly on loyalty to our beloved home country. We do not doubt the honest intentions of the opposition," said a posting on SCAF's Facebook page. On Monday the American Forces Press Service posted a story by a reporter who had accompanied Dempsey. "What signal should I take from this in terms of how you see Egypt's future? Are you going to become isolated? Are you going to preserve individual freedoms or deny them?" Dempsey was quoted as asking. No answers were forthcoming, the reporter added.
