CAIRO: The chill in relations between Egypt and the EU continues after the recent resolution passed by the European Parliament (EP) in January criticizing Egypt's human rights record. In a telephone interview with Daily News Egypt from London, co-author of the resolution and Vice-President of the European Parliament Edward MacMillan-Scott said that the EP had a duty to promote democracy, the rule of law and human rights in all countries, and particularly in countries like Egypt which receive substantial aid packages. "The EP stands by its treaty obligations to promote [these] values, he said, "and especially in countries that have their hands out for money, but where the political situation is manifestly awful, like Egypt. The resolution criticizes Egypt over the status of religious minorities, alleged torture practices and the decades-long state of emergency, and also calls for the immediate release of jailed dissident Ayman Nour. Egyptian ministers and politicians were outraged by the resolution, condemning it variously as being ignorant, meddling in Egypt's internal affairs, and being the work of Zionist interests. A spokesman for the foreign ministry Hossam Zaki said in a statement that Egypt would not accept such criticism from other countries when it does not interfere in their affairs, and added that EU ambassadors would be summoned to hear of Egypt's rejection of the resolution. Egyptian parliamentary speakers, notably Fathi Sorour, have gone as far to call for severing relations with the European assembly. MacMillan-Scott said that he had met the Egyptian Ambassador to the EU on Wednesday and had discussed the resolution with him in "frank terms, telling him that while it is up to the Egyptian regime to decide for its part how to conduct relations with the EU, "it needed reminding from time to time what the world thinks. Parliamentary speakers like Fathi Sorour expressed outrage in the Shoura Council over what it considers to be EU's interference in Egypt's internal affairs. But MacMillan-Scott dismissed their indignation, questioning the legitimacy of the Egyptian parliament, and accusing its members and the government of attempting to divert attention from major domestic problems, and stave off making democratic reforms. "The Egyptian parliament is a stooge parliament, it's a fix, said MacMillan-Scott, who supervised the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections in 2005, and did not bother returning for the second due to what he described as "an electoral stitch-up . He pointed to internal problems faced by the government, including the economy, the popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood, and dissension over Palestine. He said that the government was trying to score points with the public by claiming to defend Egypt from "outside interference . MacMillan-Scott also spoke of his "increasing contempt for Fathi Sorour for his failure to apply civilized standards to Ayman Nour after he his re-imprisonment. MacMillan-Scott was largely responsible for the initial release of Ayman Nour in 2005 after, he said, he had threatened Sorour that he would take an EU delegation to visit Nour in prison, thereby embarrassing the Egyptian regime. The EP, he said, will now demand that medical personnel see Nour and other specified political prisoners prior to their release. The EU is Egypt's largest trading partner and as such it is unlikely that Hosni Mubarak's government would consider any serious severance of ties. Egypt is, however, expected to boycott a meeting today of the Euro-Mediterranean parliamentary assembly. "They are not likely to be missed, MacMillan-Scott said.
