In Washington Ezzat Ibrahim follows the progress of what the US media has termed the Muslim Brotherhood's charm offensive A four man delegation from the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party visiting the US capital has been inundated by requests from official quarters for meetings. After a brief stop in New York as guests of the Foreign Relations Council, the delegation embarked on a five-day tour of Washington which began with a visit to the Brookings Institute and was followed by meetings at the White House, the State Department, the Treasury Department, the Chamber of Congress and the Foreign Relations Council. The delegation, which comprised MP Abdel-Mawgoud Dardiri, businessman and economic advisor to the party Hussein El-Qazzaz, FJP foreign relations coordinator Khaled El-Qazzaz and Sondos Assem of the Muslim Brotherhood's official English-language website Ikhwanweb, also held meetings at Georgetown University and the Carnegie Institute. CNN described the delegation's programme as a "good will tour" and the participants, all graduates of US universities, had clearly been selected on the basis of their ability to address audiences in the US capital. That said, the delegation was unable to dispel the ambiguity that shrouds the Brotherhood's positions on issues as central as the constitution, its recent decision to contest the presidency and the status of women and Christians. Al-Ahram Weekly has learned that in a series of closed meetings the delegation argued that a democratic Egypt would be in a position to better relations with the US and coordinate over regional security in a manner that serves both US and Egyptian interests. The FJP's representatives also said the party was committed to building a civil state and opposed both theocratic and military rule which was why it favoured a parliamentary system, with reduced presidential powers. The Brotherhood delegation also stressed that discussion of US military aid and ways to monitor how it was spent would be healthier for US- Egyptian relations than any move to obstruct that aid. The Brotherhood, they added, supports greater freedom for NGOs operating in Egypt providing they do so within a legal framework and transparent over their funding. The delegation also said the FJP does not support calls to review Camp David or hold a referendum on the treaty, and was keen to deny any organisational links between the Brotherhood in Egypt and similar organisations in the region. On the relationship between the FJP and the Muslim Brotherhood, the delegation said that a process of disengagement would eventually give the party greater autonomy. While the US media characterised the visit as an attempted charm offensive on the part of the Brotherhood, Dardiri preferred to call it an exercise in getting acquainted. The delegation began each of its meetings with comments on the importance of building bridges and fostering mutual understanding and respect. While members of the delegation invited questions, the responses they offered were often vague. Hussein El-Qazzaz took the lead in expounding the FJP's economic agenda. The Brotherhood's embrace of free markets was always going to strike a chord with the delegation's US interlocutors. Less government intervention, a strong private sector, less red tape, closer integration into the international economy: El-Qazzaz's recipe chimed perfectly with the US economic model. Less convincing was his assertion such a policy orientation would generate a dynamic and competitive economy within two years. He outlined ways Egypt could stimulate direct foreign investment and encourage small and mid-size enterprise, arguing that the FJP would be able to rely on Muslim Brotherhood grassroots networks to stimulate the growth of small enterprises. Despite the obvious pitch to allay US worries, some Americans complained that the FJP had done little beyond repeat grandiose statements about massive investment, and the absence of concrete details did nothing to assuage underlying concerns. The delegation's default response to criticism was to attribute any problem to differences with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). SCAF's refusal to create a coalition government comprised of the FJP and other parties is what triggered the nomination of Muslim Brotherhood deputy chief Khairat El-Shater for president, they said, justifying the reversal of twelve months' worth of promises that no Brotherhood candidate would contest the presidency on the grounds that the situation changed once the FJP secured 48 per cent of the seats in the People's Assembly. "The people voted for us because we represent the revolution. If we do not realise their aspirations they will elect others the next time," said El-Qazzaz. But the delegation failed to address how the party planned to promote the kind of social justice demanded by the revolution. Happy to speak at length about ways to stimulate a capitalist free- market economy, they had next to nothing to say on the safety nets that would be needed to protect those hardest hit by the negative repercussions of their policies. There were also complaints that the delegation failed to address the deficiencies of Egypt's educational system and offered no ideas on how a knowledge society based on access to information and critical thinking could be built. Women's and minority issues were frequently aired by Americans meeting with the FJP in Washington. Some charged that the status of Egyptian women had deteriorated since the last parliamentary elections which abolished the parliamentary quota for women, and said they feared further deterioration in the wake of the rise of the Islamist trend in Egyptian politics. FJP leaders argued that rather than impose a quota political parties should encourage more women to become actively involved in politics. On the position of Christians the delegation's answers, according to some US commentaries, comprised hackneyed clichés of the Copts-suffered-under-Mubarak- but-Muslims-suffered-more sort. The FJP delegation did, however, succeed in painting the Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing as moderates, occupying a middle ground between the ultra-right Salafis and the secular left. Egypt, the delegation argued, is in desperate need of the middle course that the Brotherhood represents. Yet many in the audience remained unconvinced, firing back with questions on the Brotherhood's position on Islamic forms of punishment, jihad and other articles and principles of Sharia Law. They also expressed concern over Khairet El-Shater's recent remarks about creating a council of clergymen to supervise legislation. El-Shater's nomination as the Brotherhood's presidential candidate is not generally viewed with disapproval in Washington where the pragmatic view is that only someone with El-Shater's Islamist credentials will be able to head off the unanticipated rise of the Salafi candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail. The rapprochement between the US and Egypt's largest Islamist party seems to be working in favour of US interests, for now at least, with the FJP delegation keen to emphasise their commitment to balanced regional relations and stability. "The visit," Dardiri told the Weekly, "accomplished its aims, especially with regard to getting acquainted. We succeeded in eliminating doubts and confusion over Egypt's future. In the past we were described as promoting an extremist project that supports terrorism, whereas now we are seen as promoting a moderate civilising project."
