Egypt’s Leader Reinvents Himself as Bulwark Against Terrorism

Since Mr. Sisi came to power in a coup two years ago, his government has criminalized street protests, sentenced hundreds to death in mass trials and, according to the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, imprisoned some 40,000 political opponents and their supporters, drawing widespread international criticism.

He also has declared his main political opponent, the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organization, despite its explicit denunciation of violence, putting the popular Islamist organization in the same category as avowedly militant groups such as Islamic State and al Qaeda.

On Saturday, a special court set up in the police academy in Cairo sentenced to death ousted President Mohammed Morsi, the former Muslim Brotherhood leader, and more than 100 other leaders and members of the organization, underscoring the breadth of Mr. Sisi’s crackdown.

The Egyptian leader’s tough response to the emergence of Islamic State coupled with Iran’s expanding sway in traditionally Sunni Muslim spheres of influence have boosted the 60-year-old retired army general’s stock in the region as a bulwark against extremism.

At the same time, his declarations about the need to “revolutionize” Islam to increase tolerance in the Arab and Islamic world have helped his image in Washington, opening the way for the Obama administration’s cautious embrace of the Egyptian leader.

The administration lifted a ban on arms sales to Cairo in March and promised to restore a $1.3 billion aid package, an annual commitment set forth in the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty.

The aid was withheld after Mr. Morsi—Egypt’s first freely elected president—was deposed in a military coup led by Mr. Sisi in 2013, while he was still defense minister and head of the armed forces.

In renewing normal aid ties, National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said, the U.S. would seek to balance vital U.S.-Egyptian security ties with meaningful Egyptian political overhauls.

A State Department official on Sunday said the mass death sentences were deeply troubling.

 “We have consistently spoken out against the practice of mass trials and sentences, which are conducted in a manner that is inconsistent with Egypt’s international obligations and the rule of law,” the official said.

Despite criticism of his methods, Mr. Sisi’s strategy of emphasizing the threat of terrorism, while selectively committing resources to fighting it, has paid off, said Khalil al-Anani, a Middle East scholar at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

“Sisi played this card very well by convincing the administration that the main objective is to fight terrorism,” Mr. Anani said. “A common enemy brings the countries together again.”

The cautious U.S. embrace of Mr. Sisi hasn’t appeared to markedly shift perceptions of him in Egypt.

To his supporters, he has brought welcome stability to Egypt following the upheavals of the Arab Spring, the ouster of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak and the brief, turbulent presidential tenure of Mr. Morsi.

The death sentence imposed on Mr. Morsi on Saturday is subject to review by the Grand Mufti, Egypt’s highest religious authority, whose opinion isn’t legally binding but is often adopted by the court. A final verdict will be delivered June 2 but will be open to appeal, which can take years in Egypt’s clogged judicial system.

The former Egyptian president was among 106 members and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood sentenced to death on Saturday, including the group’s spiritual guide, Mohammed Badie, and prominent Islamic scholar, Youssef al-Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar.

If the verdicts are confirmed, the entire top leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood will be facing either life in prison or execution stemming from trials that began under Mr. Sisi’s leadership. The sentences represent the most comprehensive crackdown on the group since the modern Egyptian state was founded.

In statements released from the group’s media offices overseas, the Brotherhood condemned the judge’s decision, calling it illegitimate and politically driven.

Amnesty International called the trial “grossly unfair,” saying “the death penalty has become the favorite tool for the Egyptian authorities to purge the political opposition.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a close ally of Mr. Morsi, slammed the court’s decision and criticized Western governments for not speaking forcibly enough against the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.

The defendants were accused of breaking out of Wadi al Natroun prison days after the 2011 uprising began. Mr. Morsi and other senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood had been ordered jailed by then-President Mubarak, whose rule was being undermined by massive street protests that resulted in his resignation 18 days after they began on Jan. 25, 2011.

Two days after being detained, the prison was raided by armed groups who clashed with jail guards, beating the authorities into retreat.

In a phone call to Al Jazeera Arabic broadcast on the day of his escape, a panicked Mr. Morsi is heard saying he and his Muslim Brotherhood colleagues were freed by unknown men in both prison uniforms and in civilian clothes, and urged authorities to instruct him on how to proceed, vowing not to leave the prison without official permission.

For his domestic critics, the warming U.S. attitude to Mr. Sisi has potentially damaging consequences for peaceful opponents of his government. They worry that it will give Egyptian authorities further license to treat the nonviolent opposition as harshly as those armed militants who have carried out sporadic attacks against police and security forces in Egypt.

“We are as exposed as we’ve ever been without even Western rhetoric suggesting that human rights in Egypt are a major concern,” said one activist whose colleagues are serving prison terms.

Hazem Abdel Azim, a top official in the Egyptian leader’s presidential campaign last year, announced on April 27 that he was withdrawing from politics indefinitely.

“I feel the political climate isn’t less dangerous than Mubarak’s days if one speaks freely,” Mr. Abdel Azim tweeted, referring to the long periods of authoritarian rule by the ex-Egyptian president. He didn’t respond to requests for further comment.

In Washington, congressional supporters of the Egyptian leader said he is a mainstay of international efforts to combat terrorism.

“They still have a way to go with their democratic reforms, but America needs strong allies like Egypt in the region,” said Rep. Mac Thornberry (R., Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Other members of Congress, however, voiced doubts over the wisdom of renewed arms sales to Mr. Sisi’s government.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.), co-author of a provision in the 2015 appropriations bill that now links continued U.S. military aid for Egypt to its progress on improving human rights and democracy, said this isn’t the time to hand Egypt a blank check.

“The United States should defend principles of democracy and human rights, and President al-Sisi’s government has systematically and flagrantly trampled on both,” Mr. Leahy said in an email.

Mr. Anani, the Middle East scholar, said he believes there is a long-term cost for both Egypt and its allies in making the military campaign against Islamist militants their central focus.

“It is back to the old days where security trumps everything else,” he said. “It is a shortsighted policy that can become counterproductive, increasing the kind of extremism that has created this regional instability.”

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Dahlia Kholaif in Cairo contributed to this article. http://www.wsj.com/articles/egypts-leader-reinvents-himself-as-bulwark-against-terrorism-1431941401

Photo: President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi attends the opening of an armed forces factory in Cairo last week. PHOTO: EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY/ZUMA PRESS