U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pressed Egypt’s leadership to move forward with political reform as part of a strategy to combat religious extremism, citing parliamentary elections this fall as an important test for the Arab country.
The Obama administration’s top diplomat stressed in weekend meetings with senior Egyptian officials that the U.S. is committed to supporting President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi ’s fight against extremist groups who have launched attacks across their country in recent months, particularly in the Sinai Peninsula.
But Mr. Kerry said this counterterrorism campaign wouldn’t succeed long-term unless Cairo did more to promote an open political system and a free press.
“We all know that defeating terrorism requires a long-term strategy. Border security and law enforcement actions are a significant part of the equation, but the even larger imperative is to persuade and prevent young people from turning to terror in the first place,” Mr. Kerry told Egyptian officials Sunday. “Otherwise, no matter how many terrorists we bring to justice, those groups will replenish their ranks and we won't be safer.”
Mr. Kerry said Washington would place a specific focus on parliamentary elections expected to be held in October as a sign of whether Mr. Sisi is prepared to move forward with political reform. “I think the proof of that is going to be over the course of the next months and into the next election,” he said.
Mr. Kerry led a U.S. delegation this weekend in a strategic dialogue with the Egyptian government. The once-biannual forum hasn’t been held since 2009 because of the political upheaval that has swept Egypt since the overthrow of long-serving dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
The Obama administration has had a frosty relationship with Cairo since Mr. Sisi deposed his predecessor, Islamist politician Mohammed Morsi, in a military coup in 2013. The White House placed more than $1 billion in annual U.S. military aid for Egypt on hold in the months after the military takeover.
The U.S., however, has sought to rebuild relations with Egypt following Mr. Sisi’s election as president in 2014. Earlier this year, the U.S. lifted the arms freeze. And the Obama administration delivered eight new F-16 fighter aircraft to the Egyptian military last week.
The Obama administration has also sought to revitalize Egypt’s economy. Mr. Kerry led a large delegation of American business executives to Egypt earlier this year. State Department officials estimate that U.S. companies made up one-fifth of all foreign investment in Egypt last year, at around $2 billion.
Still, tension between Washington and Cairo on the issue of political reform was evident as Mr. Kerry met on Sunday with Egyptian leaders, including Mr. Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. The American diplomat and his hosts publicly displayed sharply contrasting views on the role political Islam should play in Egypt’s future and on the pace of political change in the Arab world’s largest country.
Cairo has banned the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest political organization, from taking part in Egypt’s electoral process in the wake of the 2013 coup. Egypt has formally designated the Islamist movement as a terrorist organization, and Mr. Morsi is appealing a death sentence for alleged crimes against the state.
Mr. Shoukry stressed at a joint news briefing with Mr. Kerry that Cairo would continue its crackdown on the Brotherhood and its affiliates. “The MBs are the fountain of all these radical and extremist ideologies,” the Egyptian diplomat said.
Mr. Kerry countered that suppressing large segments of the Egyptian population wasn’t a formula for stability in the country. “One of the things we don’t want to do is see a sort of revolving cycle of terrorism where young people are…pushed into greater radicalization as a consequence of the fight against it,” he said.
Last week, Mr. Kerry met in Washington with an Egyptian dissident, dual-national Mohamed Soltan, who went on a hunger strike in an Egyptian prison before being sent back to the U.S. this May. His father is senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The U.S. has also pressed Egypt to loosen up its restrictions on the media.
Nearly two dozen Egyptian journalists are being held in prison. And a Cairo court is currently trying three reporters from the Qatar-based satellite television station, Al Jazeera, for allegedly conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood. An Egyptian judge on Sunday said a ruling on the case has been delayed until Aug. 29.
Mr. Shoukry denied his government was suppressing freedom of speech. And he stressed that all the journalists being detained were being charged on national security grounds
“None of these journalists are held on the basis of any expression that they have made or in relation to their profession as journalists,” the Egyptian diplomat said.
Mr. Kerry traveled to Qatar later Sunday for meetings with the leaders of six Persian Gulf states. He is lobbying the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council—Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates—to support the nuclear agreement reached with Iran last month.
Mr. Kerry argued in Cairo that the deal would restrain Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and make the Arab states more secure. “If Iran is destabilizing [the region], it is far, far better to have an Iran that doesn’t have a nuclear weapon than one that does.” he said.
Mr. Kerry is also holding a trilateral meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Saudi Arabia’s chef diplomat, Adel al-Jubeir, according to U.S. officials. They planned to discuss new ways to end the civil war in Syria.
Moscow is one of the primary backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Riyadh has been seeking his overthrow.
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http://www.wsj.com/articles/john-kerry-urges-egypt-to-move-forward-with-political-reform-1438524781
Photo: John Kerry, left, and Egypt’s foreign chief, Sameh Shoukry, on Sunday. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS