CAIRO: Reports on top US Congressman's meeting with the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's (MB) parliamentary bloc in Cairo on Thursday raised questions about whether there is a change of US policy in the region. US House Majority leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland who was in Egypt as part of a bi-partisan delegation of 15 congressmen, allegedly held a private 30-minute meeting with MB leader Saad El-Katatny during a reception at the US Ambassador's residence. At the meeting, interpreted in the press as a US move to initiate dialogue with Egypt's Islamist opposition group, the two allegedly discussed regional and domestic politics. The incident took place in the heels of a controversial visit to Syria by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, criticized by President George Bush as undermining US policy. But in a statement to The Daily Star Egypt, El-Katatny denied that the meeting with Hoyer was closed. "We spoke in a corner within earshot of Hala Mostafa (editor of Al Ahram's Democracy Review) and Hafez El Mirazy (chief of Al-Jazeera's Washington bureau), he said, emphasizing that he was invited to the reception as the leader of a parliamentary bloc, just like Mahmoud Abaza who represents the Wafd. He also told The Daily Star Egypt that the conversation did not touch upon Egypt's internal politics but that the congressmen inquired about the Brotherhood's support for Hamas. "When they described Hamas as a terrorist organization, I replied that it was a resistance movement that was democratically elected. I also said that the ball was in their court and that US policy is fraught with double standards. He added that his comments about the US's partiality for the secular opposition in Egypt were made during an open discussion in parliament with the US delegation held earlier the same day, and attended by House Speaker Fathi Sorour. El-Katatny had criticized the US's selective policies, defending the secular (now jailed) former head of Al Ghad party Ayman Nour, while ignoring military tribunals where members of the MB are illegally tried. The US embassy's cultural and press attaché Heinz Mahony told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the embassy does not deal with anyone the Egyptian government objects to, dismissing claims that the US is initiating a dialogue with the Brotherhood. He stressed that the Congressmen did not know any Egyptian MPs personally to invite them by name, asserting that El-Katatny was invited to the reception in his capacity as an independent MP, adding that the US embassy respects Egyptian law and only deals with elected parliamentarians who engage with the government. A source who attended the reception but preferred to remain anonymous, confirmed to The Daily Star Egypt that the brief conversation between Hoyer and El-Katatny was not in a closed room. Democracy advocate and AUC professor Saad El Din Ibrahim believes that the dialogue between the US and the MB has always existed and that the latest meeting with the US Congressmen was not an isolated event. "Brotherhood members are invited individually to international conferences, Ibrahim told The Daily Star Egypt, adding that this dialogue has been informal for the most part. Yet he believes that with the Democrats holding majority in Congress, this rapport will become more formal. "I would say the US will move on a course of normalization in its relationship with the Brotherhood. This process will gain momentum because the Democrats don't have the predetermined ideological stand of the neo-con-dominated Republicans, he said. However Diaa Rashwan, expert on Islamic movements at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, is skeptical of the existence of such a dialogue in the first place. "The word dialogue in itself has a lot of connotations and assumes the presence of a common agenda, he told The Daily Star Egypt, stressing that a casual meeting at a reception where NDP, independents and civil society representatives are invited, cannot possibly be labeled a 'dialogue'. "The Wafd was there, why didn't they say the US is in a dialogue with the Wafd? He added that the Guidance Office is the only representative of the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Katatny concurs. In an article published on the MB's official website, he said that he didn't believe there was a shift in the Democrats' policy towards the Brotherhood. "I attend these meetings as an MP and head of the biggest opposition bloc in the Egyptian parliament; the Egyptian delegation included all political powers in this meeting, he said. Amr Ali, member of the yet unlicensed Wasat Party believes that it's a healthy sign for the US to gauge the opinions of the various currents in Egypt's political scene. "It's also an indication that the democrats are stepping back in, he said. He attributes the Democratic Party's reemergence in Egypt to two factors: the country's role in the region has become almost insignificant; and Egypt's failure to broker reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. "That is why the agreement was signed in Mecca, he says. "Saudi Arabia is now taking over Egypt's traditional role. Ali also believes that the Democrats are likely to boost a return to USAID funding of development projects as opposed to the Republican backing of democratization initiatives. "The Democrats believe that change cannot be forced and that the opposition would refuse any foreign interference in Egypt's internal politics. But Manar El Shorbagy, a specialist on the US congress and senior scholar at the Arab Center for Development and Future Research, doesn't believe there is anything new. "The US has always been in contact with the Brotherhood, she told The Daily Star Egypt. Yet she expects there to be a change in US policy in the region because the American constitution gives Congress huge powers in shaping US policy. "The most potent weapon Congress has is the power of the purse, she said. But she added that the Democrats also have a historic problem with cutting funds while the troops are at war abroad because during the Vietnam War their opponents were successful in portraying them as doing this. Yet she believes that the fact that the Iraq bill was passed by both houses of Congress is a major step forward. She said: "The left in the Democratic Party, which had been putting a lot of pressure through their anti-war campaigning, have now compromised, which gave the Democrats a big boost. They achieved a broad coalition within their own ranks.
