CAIRO: Congress and several US-based human rights groups are pressuring the Obama administration to push for an open Egyptian political system ahead of the presidential elections, as President Barack Obama meets with his Egyptian counterpart in Washington this week, an article in the Wall Street Journal said. President Obama met with President Hosni Mubarak Wednesday night at the White House in the first round of direct Arab-Israeli peace talks in nearly two years. The article, titled “Congress presses for Egypt opening,” said however that the White House declined to comment on whether Obama would press Mubarak on the election issue during the Wednesday meeting. The Senate is debating a “non-binding resolution that would seek to make a dialogue on democracy and human rights a formal part of bilateral relations between Egypt and the US,” the article read. They are also calling for the US to press for an end to Egypt's recently renewed emergency law. The article also addressed the issue of succession. It has been widely believed that Gamal Mubarak is being groomed to succeed his father as president, a speculation fuelled further after Gamal accompanied his father to Washington for the opening of the latest round of direct peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel being brokered by the United States. "If elections result in instability in Egypt, a US ally that long has served as a linchpin for Washington's Middle East policies, it could cause headaches for Washington,” the article read, "the Obama administration could come under criticism in the Middle East if it is seen as helping extend the Mubarak family's hold on power." "The State Department has reduced funding targeted solely at democracy promotion," the article read, referring to the US Senate Budget Committee's decision to slash $5 million off of funds allocated for promoting democratic growth in Egypt, dropping from the $25 million which President Obama had suggested to $20 million. The article quoted Karim Haggag, a spokesman for the Egyptian embassy in Washington, who said his government is working towards fair elections. "Egypt's electoral law has ample safeguards for a free and fair election," he was quoted as saying, "President Mubarak has consistently called for elections in Egypt to be free and fair." Finally, the article highlighted that "many Middle East experts believe Mubarak's government could face a stiff political challenge next year if Egypt's political process were opened up."
