Salt in the wound

By Fatemah Farag

Fouad Serageddin (Wafd)	Khaled Mohieddin (Tagammu)	Ibrahim Shukri (Labour)

Opposition parties issued statements condemning the US military strike against a pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum as Ibrahim Shukri, leader of the Islamist-oriented Labour Party, travelled to the Sudanese capital in a show of solidarity.

Shukri was accompanied on the two-day trip by Ahmed Mahdi, another Labour official, Ragab Hemeida, an MP from the Liberal Party, and Salah Abdel-Maksoud, a member of the Press Syndicate's Council.

Moreover, preparations were underway to organise a public rally at Labour's headquarters today as well as special prayers on Friday at Al-Azhar Mosque.

The Labour Party said in a statement that the "attack against brothers amounts to a direct attack against Egypt. It is intended as a clear message to Egypt not to improve relations with Sudan."

The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood said the strike was "an attempt by the American administration to cover up for Bill Clinton's recent scandal" -- an allusion to the Monica Lewinsky affair. Another statement said the strike "confirms the US intention of destroying the economy of Sudan, and of other Arab or Islamic countries."

Hemeida

Abdel-Maksoud

  The liberal Wafd Party also used strong language to condemn the American strike. "The United States has done what they are accusing terrorists of doing -- killing innocent people," said Ibrahim Abaza, head of the party's political bureau. "And to what end? Examples that the use of brute state force is not successful in eliminating terrorism are plentiful."

Fouad Serageddin, the party's chairman, came out against both "individual terrorism and state terrorism," describing the attack as a "clear violation of international legality." Serageddin said that the US action had caused hatred to mount on the Arab street.

The Wafd was also critical of the position taken by the government. "Unfortunately, the government stand was weak because it attempted not to take sides," Abaza said. "Official statements should have included a clear condemnation of American actions."

The political bureau of the leftist Tagammu Party met on Sunday and issued a statement which said that "no government of any country, even if it is the largest and strongest in the world, has the authority to pass sentences and execute them, which is what the United States did."

The statement said the US was responsible for the proliferation of terrorism internationally. It reminded the world that the majority of terrorists active in Algeria, Egypt and the US were a product of the war in Afghanistan, during which the mujahedin were provided with military training by the CIA.

Another statement of condemnation came from the Nasserist Party, which accused the US of using double standards when dealing with Zionist terrorism and alleged Arab-Islamist terrorism.

The reaction of ordinary Egyptians was mixed. Adila Ahmed, a government employee, was outraged. "Sudan is so close, which makes the American strike really frightening," she said. "I know that there are lots of problems with the Sudanese government, but to bomb a neighbouring country, without even consulting with us first, is just too much."

But Ali Abdel-Fattah, operator of a photocopying-machine, was unimpressed. "If we were talking about Syria, for example, many people would have taken to the streets," he said. "But we have heard so many negative things about the Sudanese government and its involvement in terrorism, especially after the attempt on President Mubarak's life. This makes people less inclined to express anger at the US."

Others were upset at the mere idea of an attack against an Arab and a Muslim country. "It's so humiliating," said Mohamed Abdel-Rehim, an electrician. "Everyone knows that they can get at us wherever we are and that, in the end, no one will be able to do much about it. Why do they have to rub it in?"

A man waiting for an electric appliance to be fixed responded: "Maybe rubbing it in will eventually make somebody do something about it."