CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak congratulated Iran's Mahmoud Ahmedinejad over his disputed re-election victory on Monday in what some activists in Egypt have criticized as appealing to a “like-minded leader.” Yussif Gama'a, a student activist at Al-Azhar University called the congratulations a “set-back for freedom” as “dictators continue to support dictators and forget what honesty is” when he read the news. Monday, Iran's national news agency, IRNA, reported that Mubarak had sent a message to the embattled Iranian President, but did not provide further details. The Egyptian state-run media have yet to report on the alleged congratulations from Cairo. “If it turns out to be true, then Egyptians must really begin to question everything that goes on, even those who are not activists, because here we have a president who is now supporting the killing of protesters, but it shouldn't come as a surprise,” Gama'a continued. Diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran have been tense for over 30 years since the Iranian revolution ousted Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi. Iran cut its relationship with the country after Egypt signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979 and provided asylum for the deposed Shah, who is buried in Cairo. Egypt has demanded Iran change the name of a street, which idolizes Khaled Islambouli, the man who killed President Anwar el-Sadat in 1981. More recently, Egypt and many other Sunni Arab countries have been wary of the growing power of Shi'ite Persian Iran in the Mideast. Despite these issues, diplomatic ties between the two countries have been thawing somewhat this year and the alleged congratulations from Mubarak could signal a new era in the two nations' relationship. BM
