Guilty" of mixing politics and religion
The Brotherhood believes its slogan is in line with the constitution
With only one week to go before Egyptians begin electing a new parliament a row has broken out about mixing politics and religion.

At issue is a slogan used by the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which says "Islam is the solution" (al-Islam Houwa al-Hall).

The ruling National Democratic Party, as well as secularist politicians, want to ban the use of the slogan, but the powerful group is adamant it will not give up its identity to please its opponents.

The Muslim Brotherhood says its programme is in line with the Egyptian constitution, which recognises Islam as the state religion and Islamic Sharia law as one of the main sources for legislation.

The group has for decades campaigned using this slogan.


But their opponents say it is a sensationalist phrase which can foment sectarian strife
in a country with a sizeable Christian minority.

Separating religion from politics will require a lot more than banning the Muslim Brothers from using their slogan

Only last month, the port city of Alexandria saw some of the worst sectarian disturbances the country has ever seen.

The problem of mixing politics and religion goes far beyond the concerns of this parliamentary election.

It strikes at the heart of the polarisation that Egypt has seen over the past few decades, with the rise of militant Islam and the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood emerging as the most powerful opposition group in the country.

Some even talk of the re-Islamisation of Egypt, where Islamic faith is increasingly invoked as the exclusive norm for social as well as political and cultural behaviour.

Religious messages

Yet, the Muslim Brotherhood is not the only group "guilty" of mixing politics and religion.


Islamists have participated in Egyptian politics for decades

Despite presenting itself as a secular party, the National Democratic Party itself has often been accused of pandering to religious sentiments to consolidate its hold on power.

State broadcasters, which are controlled by the NDP, have over the years devoted an increasing number of hours to religious programming. These programmes may ostensibly be aimed at counterbalancing the more radical message of the Islamists, but in effect they serve to entrench the dominant religious frame of mind in Egypt,.

Clearly, separating religion from politics will require a lot more than banning the Muslim Brothers from using their slogan.

Despite being outlawed, the Muslim Brotherhood remains the largest opposition block in the current parliament.

The group is clearly determined to increase its share of parliamentary seats in what will probably turn out to be the most hotly contested election in the history of Egypt.

A new constitutional amendment means that only parties that control 10% of the lower and upper houses of parliament can field candidates in future presidential elections.

No opposition party yet meets that requirement.

* US ambassador insists relations on tracks

In a speech entitled "US-Egyptian relations: on track", US ambassador to Egypt Francis Ricciardone insisted relations between Egypt and the US remained a strategic asset to both partners, and are solidly on track. Ricciardone also praised President Hosni Mubarak for proposing "a historic legislative and constitutional agenda". He did, however, note that "unfortunately we are seeing some serious resistance to reforms that favour Egypt's opening to competition, change, challenge and growth".

While Ricciardone insisted he was optimistic about the prospects for political and economic reform, he said he remained worried about continued government corruption and repression. In an implicit rebuke to the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and its brutal clampdown on recent pro-democracy protests in Cairo, Ricciardone said, "every country has the responsibility to pass laws to protect both freedom of expression and public order" and that "tolerance for peaceful, orderly protests is a hallmark of democratic, and democratising, governments".

Ricciardone's speech took place during the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo's (AmCham) annual meeting on 31 May; a few hours after delivering the speech and he was on his way to Washington for consultations.

The remarks to AmCham came days after Ricciardone was criticised by two leftist members of the People's Assembly. Kamal Ahmed, an MP with Nasserist leanings, accused Ricciardone of having described the Egyptian opposition as "opportunist". Kamal further alleged that during a closed meeting with local pro- democracy activists Ricciardone has said, "the US has interests and pays money to the Egyptian government, which must work to achieve those interests". Mustafa Bakri, an MP and editor of Al-Osbou, complained that Ricciardone had joined Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif during a visit to the governorate of Beni Sweif.

Ahmed's criticisms were met with vehement denials from the US Embassy while Moufid Shehab, minister of state for parliamentary and legal affairs, said Ricciardone had joined Nazif because the latter was scheduled to open a number of USAID- funded projects. The accusations, however, cast a new pall of gloom over already strained Egyptian-American relations.

Mustafa El-Feki, chairman of the People's Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, dates the deterioration in Egyptian-US relations to the beginning of 2004, the official launch of George Bush's strategy to promote democracy in the Middle East. In 2005, El-Feki adds, bilateral relations received a short-term boost after President Mubarak decided to introduce multi-candidate presidential elections.

"But soon after, at the beginning of parliamentary elections till now, setbacks have overshadowed the relations," says El-Feki.

Most Egyptian political observers attribute these setbacks to the White House and US Congress frustration with the progress of political reform in Egypt. US officials, says El-Feki, feel that Mubarak has failed to live up to their democratic expectations, something reflected in the criticisms levelled at him in American press, which has condemned the extension of emergency law, the authoritarian tactics deployed against pro-democracy protesters and the jailing of opposition leader Ayman Nour.

Some American commentators go so far as to suggest that Mubarak's policies may even have harmed US interests. Recently Newsweek accused the Egyptian regime of devoting more effort to crushing secular political opponents than to fighting Islamic extremists.

At the AmCham meeting Ricciardone applauded President Mubarak for calling the first multi-candidate presidential elections but criticised the government for arresting Ayman Nour. "All we know is that the man who ran for presidency here and came in second, lost the elections by a great margin, ended up before the courts and got what appears to Americans a very harsh sentence." Ricciardone also criticised the recent crackdown on anti- government demonstrators. "When things like this happen, they appear to us to set back this great, optimistic course that President Mubarak has charted, and we are, at the very least, disappointed."

Mohamed El-Sayed Said, deputy director of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, believes the recent round of mudslinging between Egyptian and US officials precipitated the visit of the president's son, Gamal Mubarak, to Washington three weeks ago.

"It seems clear that President Mubarak has been outraged by constant US criticism of his regime's reform policies," said Said. "That criticism was exemplified by the Congress decision not to start free trade agreement negotiations with Egypt on the grounds that Mubarak had backtracked on reform".

Mubarak has not been to Washington since 2004, though before that he made annual visits. Instead, said Said, Mubarak sent his son, Gamal.

Gamal has insisted that his visit was not secret, and came at the prompting of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

According to Ricciardone, "Gamal came for private purposes but also because he did want to see us."

"He came to the White House. We asked him, 'what is going on in Egypt?' And he explained what is going on in Egypt from his perspective. I hope Egyptians take that as a good thing."

Said believes that rather than sweetening US-Egyptian relations, Gamal's visit to Washington did them harm.

"It seems that the Americans were not fully convinced of what Gamal told them given continued repression in Egypt and the angry reaction it has provoked in the American press." While in Egypt, argues Said, there was a widespread belief that Gamal had gone to America to secure Washington's blessing for him to become Egypt's next president.

"The fact that the visit was secret and that he met President Bush and Vice-President Cheney served to confirm such rumours in the eyes of many," says Said.

Towards the end of his speech Ricciardone said he would be taking a number of messages back to Washington.

"Our relations remain very important, very alive, very intense, very precious," he said. "They are so strong that we can overcome differences in views on numerous issues, and we can manage the differences of views on sometimes important policy issues."

Said is sceptical on how useful Ricciardone's rhetoric will be in containing the tensions in bilateral relations.

"The fact that the regime in Egypt remains insincere about democratic reform will cause new setbacks in the relations between the two countries," he believes.

El-Feki points to the role of the media in worsening US- Egyptian relations. "While some government-controlled newspapers attack the US for allegedly interfering in internal affairs and ask the regime not to implement what they see as an American agenda of reform, the American press has painted a bleak picture of Egypt, urging Bush not to prop up the regime in Egypt with $2 billion of annual aid," he says.

It was a point taken up in Ricciardone's speech. "The media," said the US ambassador, "has its role to portray the facts, not exaggerate them, not just give a small part of the picture and that's true whether we are talking about allegations regarding abuses in Egypt or allegations involving American policy."
Gamal Essam El-Din reports on what many perceive to be deteriorating Egyptian-US relations

In a speech entitled "US-Egyptian relations: on track", US ambassador to Egypt Francis Ricciardone insisted relations between Egypt and the US remained a strategic asset to both partners, and are solidly on track. Ricciardone also praised President Hosni Mubarak for proposing "a historic legislative and constitutional agenda". He did, however, note that "unfortunately we are seeing some serious resistance to reforms that favour Egypt's opening to competition, change, challenge and growth".

While Ricciardone insisted he was optimistic about the prospects for political and economic reform, he said he remained worried about continued government corruption and repression. In an implicit rebuke to the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and its brutal clampdown on recent pro-democracy protests in Cairo, Ricciardone said, "every country has the responsibility to pass laws to protect both freedom of expression and public order" and that "tolerance for peaceful, orderly protests is a hallmark of democratic, and democratising, governments".

Ricciardone's speech took place during the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo's (AmCham) annual meeting on 31 May; a few hours after delivering the speech and he was on his way to Washington for consultations.

The remarks to AmCham came days after Ricciardone was criticised by two leftist members of the People's Assembly. Kamal Ahmed, an MP with Nasserist leanings, accused Ricciardone of having described the Egyptian opposition as "opportunist". Kamal further alleged that during a closed meeting with local pro- democracy activists Ricciardone has said, "the US has interests and pays money to the Egyptian government, which must work to achieve those interests". Mustafa Bakri, an MP and editor of Al-Osbou, complained that Ricciardone had joined Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif during a visit to the governorate of Beni Sweif.

Ahmed's criticisms were met with vehement denials from the US Embassy while Moufid Shehab, minister of state for parliamentary and legal affairs, said Ricciardone had joined Nazif because the latter was scheduled to open a number of USAID- funded projects. The accusations, however, cast a new pall of gloom over already strained Egyptian-American relations.

Mustafa El-Feki, chairman of the People's Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, dates the deterioration in Egyptian-US relations to the beginning of 2004, the official launch of George Bush's strategy to promote democracy in the Middle East. In 2005, El-Feki adds, bilateral relations received a short-term boost after President Mubarak decided to introduce multi-candidate presidential elections.

"But soon after, at the beginning of parliamentary elections till now, setbacks have overshadowed the relations," says El-Feki.

Most Egyptian political observers attribute these setbacks to the White House and US Congress frustration with the progress of political reform in Egypt. US officials, says El-Feki, feel that Mubarak has failed to live up to their democratic expectations, something reflected in the criticisms levelled at him in American press, which has condemned the extension of emergency law, the authoritarian tactics deployed against pro-democracy protesters and the jailing of opposition leader Ayman Nour.

Some American commentators go so far as to suggest that Mubarak's policies may even have harmed US interests. Recently Newsweek accused the Egyptian regime of devoting more effort to crushing secular political opponents than to fighting Islamic extremists.

At the AmCham meeting Ricciardone applauded President Mubarak for calling the first multi-candidate presidential elections but criticised the government for arresting Ayman Nour. "All we know is that the man who ran for presidency here and came in second, lost the elections by a great margin, ended up before the courts and got what appears to Americans a very harsh sentence." Ricciardone also criticised the recent crackdown on anti- government demonstrators. "When things like this happen, they appear to us to set back this great, optimistic course that President Mubarak has charted, and we are, at the very least, disappointed."

Mohamed El-Sayed Said, deputy director of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, believes the recent round of mudslinging between Egyptian and US officials precipitated the visit of the president's son, Gamal Mubarak, to Washington three weeks ago.

"It seems clear that President Mubarak has been outraged by constant US criticism of his regime's reform policies," said Said. "That criticism was exemplified by the Congress decision not to start free trade agreement negotiations with Egypt on the grounds that Mubarak had backtracked on reform".

Mubarak has not been to Washington since 2004, though before that he made annual visits. Instead, said Said, Mubarak sent his son, Gamal.

Gamal has insisted that his visit was not secret, and came at the prompting of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

According to Ricciardone, "Gamal came for private purposes but also because he did want to see us."

"He came to the White House. We asked him, 'what is going on in Egypt?' And he explained what is going on in Egypt from his perspective. I hope Egyptians take that as a good thing."

Said believes that rather than sweetening US-Egyptian relations, Gamal's visit to Washington did them harm.

"It seems that the Americans were not fully convinced of what Gamal told them given continued repression in Egypt and the angry reaction it has provoked in the American press." While in Egypt, argues Said, there was a widespread belief that Gamal had gone to America to secure Washington's blessing for him to become Egypt's next president.

"The fact that the visit was secret and that he met President Bush and Vice-President Cheney served to confirm such rumours in the eyes of many," says Said.

Towards the end of his speech Ricciardone said he would be taking a number of messages back to Washington.

"Our relations remain very important, very alive, very intense, very precious," he said. "They are so strong that we can overcome differences in views on numerous issues, and we can manage the differences of views on sometimes important policy issues."

Said is sceptical on how useful Ricciardone's rhetoric will be in containing the tensions in bilateral relations.

"The fact that the regime in Egypt remains insincere about democratic reform will cause new setbacks in the relations between the two countries," he believes.

El-Feki points to the role of the media in worsening US- Egyptian relations. "While some government-controlled newspapers attack the US for allegedly interfering in internal affairs and ask the regime not to implement what they see as an American agenda of reform, the American press has painted a bleak picture of Egypt, urging Bush not to prop up the regime in Egypt with $2 billion of annual aid," he says.

It was a point taken up in Ricciardone's speech. "The media," said the US ambassador, "has its role to portray the facts, not exaggerate them, not just give a small part of the picture and that's true whether we are talking about allegations regarding abuses in Egypt or allegations involving American policy."

^**Gamal Essam El-Din reports on what many perceive
to be deteriorating Egyptian-US relation

In a speech entitled "US-Egyptian relations: on track", US ambassador to Egypt Francis Ricciardone insisted relations between Egypt and the US remained a strategic asset to both partners, and are solidly on track. Ricciardone also praised President Hosni Mubarak for proposing "a historic legislative and constitutional agenda". He did, however, note that "unfortunately we are seeing some serious resistance to reforms that favour Egypt's opening to competition, change, challenge and growth".

While Ricciardone insisted he was optimistic about the prospects for political and economic reform, he said he remained worried about continued government corruption and repression. In an implicit rebuke to the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and its brutal clampdown on recent pro-democracy protests in Cairo, Ricciardone said, "every country has the responsibility to pass laws to protect both freedom of expression and public order" and that "tolerance for peaceful, orderly protests is a hallmark of democratic, and democratising, governments".

Ricciardone's speech took place during the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo's (AmCham) annual meeting on 31 May; a few hours after delivering the speech and he was on his way to Washington for consultations.

The remarks to AmCham came days after Ricciardone was criticised by two leftist members of the People's Assembly. Kamal Ahmed, an MP with Nasserist leanings, accused Ricciardone of having described the Egyptian opposition as "opportunist". Kamal further alleged that during a closed meeting with local pro- democracy activists Ricciardone has said, "the US has interests and pays money to the Egyptian government, which must work to achieve those interests". Mustafa Bakri, an MP and editor of Al-Osbou, complained that Ricciardone had joined Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif during a visit to the governorate of Beni Sweif.

Ahmed's criticisms were met with vehement denials from the US Embassy while Moufid Shehab, minister of state for parliamentary and legal affairs, said Ricciardone had joined Nazif because the latter was scheduled to open a number of USAID- funded projects. The accusations, however, cast a new pall of gloom over already strained Egyptian-American relations.

Mustafa El-Feki, chairman of the People's Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, dates the deterioration in Egyptian-US relations to the beginning of 2004, the official launch of George Bush's strategy to promote democracy in the Middle East. In 2005, El-Feki adds, bilateral relations received a short-term boost after President Mubarak decided to introduce multi-candidate presidential elections.

"But soon after, at the beginning of parliamentary elections till now, setbacks have overshadowed the relations," says El-Feki.

Most Egyptian political observers attribute these setbacks to the White House and US Congress frustration with the progress of political reform in Egypt. US officials, says El-Feki, feel that Mubarak has failed to live up to their democratic expectations, something reflected in the criticisms levelled at him in American press, which has condemned the extension of emergency law, the authoritarian tactics deployed against pro-democracy protesters and the jailing of opposition leader Ayman Nour.

Some American commentators go so far as to suggest that Mubarak's policies may even have harmed US interests. Recently Newsweek accused the Egyptian regime of devoting more effort to crushing secular political opponents than to fighting Islamic extremists.

At the AmCham meeting Ricciardone applauded President Mubarak for calling the first multi-candidate presidential elections but criticised the government for arresting Ayman Nour. "All we know is that the man who ran for presidency here and came in second, lost the elections by a great margin, ended up before the courts and got what appears to Americans a very harsh sentence." Ricciardone also criticised the recent crackdown on anti- government demonstrators. "When things like this happen, they appear to us to set back this great, optimistic course that President Mubarak has charted, and we are, at the very least, disappointed."

Mohamed El-Sayed Said, deputy director of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, believes the recent round of mudslinging between Egyptian and US officials precipitated the visit of the president's son, Gamal Mubarak, to Washington three weeks ago.

"It seems clear that President Mubarak has been outraged by constant US criticism of his regime's reform policies," said Said. "That criticism was exemplified by the Congress decision not to start free trade agreement negotiations with Egypt on the grounds that Mubarak had backtracked on reform".

Mubarak has not been to Washington since 2004, though before that he made annual visits. Instead, said Said, Mubarak sent his son, Gamal.

Gamal has insisted that his visit was not secret, and came at the prompting of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

According to Ricciardone, "Gamal came for private purposes but also because he did want to see us."

"He came to the White House. We asked him, 'what is going on in Egypt?' And he explained what is going on in Egypt from his perspective. I hope Egyptians take that as a good thing."

Said believes that rather than sweetening US-Egyptian relations, Gamal's visit to Washington did them harm.

"It seems that the Americans were not fully convinced of what Gamal told them given continued repression in Egypt and the angry reaction it has provoked in the American press." While in Egypt, argues Said, there was a widespread belief that Gamal had gone to America to secure Washington's blessing for him to become Egypt's next president.

"The fact that the visit was secret and that he met President Bush and Vice-President Cheney served to confirm such rumours in the eyes of many," says Said.

Towards the end of his speech Ricciardone said he would be taking a number of messages back to Washington.

"Our relations remain very important, very alive, very intense, very precious," he said. "They are so strong that we can overcome differences in views on numerous issues, and we can manage the differences of views on sometimes important policy issues."

Said is sceptical on how useful Ricciardone's rhetoric will be in containing the tensions in bilateral relations.

"The fact that the regime in Egypt remains insincere about democratic reform will cause new setbacks in the relations between the two countries," he believes.

El-Feki points to the role of the media in worsening US- Egyptian relations. "While some government-controlled newspapers attack the US for allegedly interfering in internal affairs and ask the regime not to implement what they see as an American agenda of reform, the American press has painted a bleak picture of Egypt, urging Bush not to prop up the regime in Egypt with $2 billion of annual aid," he says.

It was a point taken up in Ricciardone's speech. "The media," said the US ambassador, "has its role to portray the facts, not exaggerate them, not just give a small part of the picture and that's true whether we are talking about allegations regarding abuses in Egypt or allegations involving American policy."
Gamal Essam El-Din reports on what many perceive to be deteriorating Egyptian-US relations

In a speech entitled "US-Egyptian relations: on track", US ambassador to Egypt Francis Ricciardone insisted relations between Egypt and the US remained a strategic asset to both partners, and are solidly on track. Ricciardone also praised President Hosni Mubarak for proposing "a historic legislative and constitutional agenda". He did, however, note that "unfortunately we are seeing some serious resistance to reforms that favour Egypt's opening to competition, change, challenge and growth".

While Ricciardone insisted he was optimistic about the prospects for political and economic reform, he said he remained worried about continued government corruption and repression. In an implicit rebuke to the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and its brutal clampdown on recent pro-democracy protests in Cairo, Ricciardone said, "every country has the responsibility to pass laws to protect both freedom of expression and public order" and that "tolerance for peaceful, orderly protests is a hallmark of democratic, and democratising, governments".

Ricciardone's speech took place during the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo's (AmCham) annual meeting on 31 May; a few hours after delivering the speech and he was on his way to Washington for consultations.

The remarks to AmCham came days after Ricciardone was criticised by two leftist members of the People's Assembly. Kamal Ahmed, an MP with Nasserist leanings, accused Ricciardone of having described the Egyptian opposition as "opportunist". Kamal further alleged that during a closed meeting with local pro- democracy activists Ricciardone has said, "the US has interests and pays money to the Egyptian government, which must work to achieve those interests". Mustafa Bakri, an MP and editor of Al-Osbou, complained that Ricciardone had joined Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif during a visit to the governorate of Beni Sweif.

Ahmed's criticisms were met with vehement denials from the US Embassy while Moufid Shehab, minister of state for parliamentary and legal affairs, said Ricciardone had joined Nazif because the latter was scheduled to open a number of USAID- funded projects. The accusations, however, cast a new pall of gloom over already strained Egyptian-American relations.

Mustafa El-Feki, chairman of the People's Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, dates the deterioration in Egyptian-US relations to the beginning of 2004, the official launch of George Bush's strategy to promote democracy in the Middle East. In 2005, El-Feki adds, bilateral relations received a short-term boost after President Mubarak decided to introduce multi-candidate presidential elections.

"But soon after, at the beginning of parliamentary elections till now, setbacks have overshadowed the relations," says El-Feki.

Most Egyptian political observers attribute these setbacks to the White House and US Congress frustration with the progress of political reform in Egypt. US officials, says El-Feki, feel that Mubarak has failed to live up to their democratic expectations, something reflected in the criticisms levelled at him in American press, which has condemned the extension of emergency law, the authoritarian tactics deployed against pro-democracy protesters and the jailing of opposition leader Ayman Nour.

Some American commentators go so far as to suggest that Mubarak's policies may even have harmed US interests. Recently Newsweek accused the Egyptian regime of devoting more effort to crushing secular political opponents than to fighting Islamic extremists.

At the AmCham meeting Ricciardone applauded President Mubarak for calling the first multi-candidate presidential elections but criticised the government for arresting Ayman Nour. "All we know is that the man who ran for presidency here and came in second, lost the elections by a great margin, ended up before the courts and got what appears to Americans a very harsh sentence." Ricciardone also criticised the recent crackdown on anti- government demonstrators. "When things like this happen, they appear to us to set back this great, optimistic course that President Mubarak has charted, and we are, at the very least, disappointed."

Mohamed El-Sayed Said, deputy director of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, believes the recent round of mudslinging between Egyptian and US officials precipitated the visit of the president's son, Gamal Mubarak, to Washington three weeks ago.

"It seems clear that President Mubarak has been outraged by constant US criticism of his regime's reform policies," said Said. "That criticism was exemplified by the Congress decision not to start free trade agreement negotiations with Egypt on the grounds that Mubarak had backtracked on reform".

Mubarak has not been to Washington since 2004, though before that he made annual visits. Instead, said Said, Mubarak sent his son, Gamal.

Gamal has insisted that his visit was not secret, and came at the prompting of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

According to Ricciardone, "Gamal came for private purposes but also because he did want to see us."

"He came to the White House. We asked him, 'what is going on in Egypt?' And he explained what is going on in Egypt from his perspective. I hope Egyptians take that as a good thing."

Said believes that rather than sweetening US-Egyptian relations, Gamal's visit to Washington did them harm.

"It seems that the Americans were not fully convinced of what Gamal told them given continued repression in Egypt and the angry reaction it has provoked in the American press." While in Egypt, argues Said, there was a widespread belief that Gamal had gone to America to secure Washington's blessing for him to become Egypt's next president.

"The fact that the visit was secret and that he met President Bush and Vice-President Cheney served to confirm such rumours in the eyes of many," says Said.

Towards the end of his speech Ricciardone said he would be taking a number of messages back to Washington.

"Our relations remain very important, very alive, very intense, very precious," he said. "They are so strong that we can overcome differences in views on numerous issues, and we can manage the differences of views on sometimes important policy issues."

Said is sceptical on how useful Ricciardone's rhetoric will be in containing the tensions in bilateral relations.

"The fact that the regime in Egypt remains insincere about democratic reform will cause new setbacks in the relations between the two countries," he believes.

El-Feki points to the role of the media in worsening US- Egyptian relations. "While some government-controlled newspapers attack the US for allegedly interfering in internal affairs and ask the regime not to implement what they see as an American agenda of reform, the American press has painted a bleak picture of Egypt, urging Bush not to prop up the regime in Egypt with $2 billion of annual aid," he says.

It was a point taken up in Ricciardone's speech. "The media," said the US ambassador, "has its role to portray the facts, not exaggerate them, not just give a small part of the picture and that's true whether we are talking about allegations regarding abuses in Egypt or allegations involving American policy."

^**Gamal Essam El-Din reports on what many perceive
to be deteriorating Egyptian-US relation

SUDAN: Tension still high in Kutum town
Sheik Abdul Shafi, camp secretary in Kassab IDP camp, North Darfur.
At the Monday market in Kutum town, North Darfur, heavily armed Janjawid militia openly stroll between the fruit and vegetable stalls, closely watched by Sudanese soldiers.
It is the first day the market is open again after a week of unrest. Unease and fear are palpable.

On 1 February, rebels of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) killed a lieutenant of the Sudanese military in the town. In retaliation, the Janjawid militia took over the town's streets for a week, culminating in a violent assault on the local population on 6 February.
"Between 2 and 6 February, the whole town was full of Janjawid," a local political analyst said. "The town was completely deserted, with not a single man outside and only a few women.
"The Arab militia was calling for revenge, calling the whole town Tora Bora [local term for SLM/A rebels],"
.
On 2 February, just north of Kutum, at Kassab camp for internally displaced people, the militias sealed off the area and detained various people. The same day, the analyst said, Arab militia entered Kutum market and randomly started beating people and putting them into trucks to take them away.
On 6 February, violence escalated in the market, resulting in a shoot-out between the Arab militia and the Sudanese armed forces, which moved everybody out and closed the market.

"Although the Arab militia are collaborating with the Sudanese military, in Kutum it sometimes looks as if the militia are the ones in charge," the analyst noted.
"At the end of the afternoon, the militia started looting and harassing and beating people in the market," a town resident noted. "Then the shooting started, and everybody was running."

As the militia withdrew, they attacked people and stole their animals and other belongings at the outskirts of Kutum and in the nearby village of Sungir. Six people were shot. African Union peacekeepers picked up and treated the wounded, but two people died of their injuries.

Tensions building up
Kutum is a government-controlled town of 45,000, 120 km northwest of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State. The town's stability is fragile, however, as the Sudanese authorities suspect its predominantly Fur, Tunjur and Berti inhabitants support the Darfur rebels.

"On top of the rising tensions, the civilian authority has been severely weakened after previous commissioners were replaced in quick succession, leaving only a relatively new deputy in office," the analyst observed. "The military and national security are running this town at the moment."

It is a delicate balancing act, with the SLM/A rebels only 10 km away - largely controlling the area northeast of Kutum - and large concentrations of Arab militias to the south and west of the town.

The situation is compounded by Kutum's location on one of the traditional nomadic migration routes. Many Arab nomads were stuck in the region after their passage to the north was blocked following a clash between them and the SLM/A in May-June 2005 near Um Shidiq.

"The problem is that you have all the armed groups together in a very small area," the analyst explained. "It is inherently unstable."
Over the past four months, tensions have risen steadily as the SLM/A started hijacking vehicles belonging to the government and aid organisations. In the latest hijacking on 1 February, a military officer was killed.
Following the clashes, the military commander of El Fasher came to Kutum to reinforce authority. Traders in the market were reportedly given the guarantee that the military would protect them.

According to the analyst, the strong government response was crucial, as many feared that the next step of an unchecked Arab militia would be a wholesale attack on Kutum or on one of the two nearby camps for displaced people, Kassab and Fatta Borno.
"The authorities know how sensitive the situation is. If the Arab militia would attack Kutum or the IDP [internally displaced persons’] camps, the SLM/A would definitely step in to protect their people, resulting in a major escalation of the conflict,"
.

Fatta BornoA village destroyed by militias southwest of Kutum town, North Darfur.Before the Darfur conflict, nine seminomadic Arab settlements, called "damrads", co-existed without significant problems with African agricultural villages in the vicinity of Kutum. According to the analyst, the sheikhs and leaders of the "damrads" were very clear focal points for the resolution of local disputes.

In early 2004, both the agricultural villages and the "damrads" came under attack by both sides to the conflict, and now there are only four "damrads" left - Masri, Al Sheikh Abdal Bagi, Um Sagalla and Por Saeed. Most of the African villages were destroyed and are now deserted.

With the influx of Arab nomads who had been blocked from moving to the north the channels for conflict resolution have become increasingly limited.
Four thousand inhabitants of the African villages, predominantly Fur and Zaghawa, are now staying in Fatta Borno camp, 20 km southwest of Kutum and surrounded by the remaining damrads.

Initially, most of them would return to their nearby villages to cultivate their vegetable gardens. With the arrival of Arab nomads, however, security deteriorated significantly, and people stopped tending their gardens. Still, displaced populations - which could have moved to the nearby and more secure camp of Kassab - stayed at Fatta Borno, as they were afraid they would lose their land if they left.

"The geography of Fatta Borno camp is its biggest problem," a resident of Fatta Borno town said. "This conflict is about the land, and this area has some of the best lands in the region."

Displaced people have tried to restart their vegetable gardens on the outskirts of the camp, but generators for their water pumps were stolen, their tools looted, and the gardens trampled. They have now almost completely withdrawn into the camp and depend on African Union escorts to take them to Kutum market twice a week.

A staff member of a nearby clinic said the people from Fatta Borno camp were subject to "low to mid-level intimidation", including regular beatings, looting of animals, denial of access to their gardens and "approximately one rape every six weeks". Just before Christmas, four residents were killed when Arab militia entered the camp and started shooting indiscriminately.

"We are suffering from only one thing: insecurity," a local sheikh said. "All our belongings were taken, our villages burned. Since we came to the camp, a lot of people died."
An aid worker said apart from insecurity, sanitation had become the biggest problem in the camp.

"IDPs have their belongings, their little gardens and their animals, all concentrated in their little compounds, leading to very unsanitary conditions," she said. "And no organisation is working in sanitation right now."

Kassab camp
In contrast, aid workers in Kassab camp, where 23,500 displaced people from 64 Fur villages to the north of Kutum currently live, noted that the regular attacks on women collecting firewood outside the camp had all but ceased since African Union patrols started accompanying them.

Other problems had surfaced, however, in part because humanitarian organisations had scaled back their operations because of funding cuts. The Sudanese Water and Environmental Sanitation Department (WES), supported by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), had to curtail its hygiene-promotion activities since the beginning of January. The number of people checking and chlorinating the water sources in Kutum town and Kassab camp has been cut by half.
With regard to health, Patricia Escolano, Kassab’s humanitarian camp coordinator for the Spanish Red Cross, noted that there were good primary healthcare clinics in the camp, but no permanent Sudanese doctors to receive referrals of patients with medical complications.

"The main problem of the lack of doctors is the lack of treatment for women and for the many wounded people of various clashes who need assistance," Escolano said.
In one month, five women had died because of complications during childbirth, she said. A staff member in one of the clinics echoed Escolano’s concern, noting that complications in delivery were very common - in particular with new mothers - because of the prevalence of female genital mutilation.

Although the authorities were receiving support from humanitarian organisations, most of the money was allocated to schools in Kutum town itself.
As a result, 1,700 children in Kassab camp were not attending school, 5,000 were cramped into one location within the camp, and many others had to walk approximately 10 km a day to attend school in Kutum.
Most displaced people in Kassab, however, said security was their greatest concern.
"We don't feel secure here. People come at night and threaten IDPs and take things," said Sheikh Abdul Shafi, camp secretary for Kassab camp.
A local resident who requested anonymity said she was glad to have come to Kassab because the situation was better than in her village. However, she, too, was afraid. "People sometimes come at night. They threaten and beat people."
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
Regions
Latest News
East Africa
·East Africa
·Kenya
·Sudan
·Tanzania
·Uganda
Great Lakes
Horn of Africa
Southern Africa
West Africa
Weeklies
Themes
Children
Democracy & Governance
Early warning
Economy
Education
Environment
Food Security
Gender Issues
Health & Nutrition
HIV/AIDS
Human Rights
Natural Disasters
Peace & Security
Refugees/IDPs

[ENDS]