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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Debate Focus Profile Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The limits of friendship
By Dina Ezzat"Egyptian-US relations are always heading to a point of crisis, but they never really get there because neither country wants them to," said a senior Egyptian diplomatic source. He added, "Recently, it has been that, more often than not, the two countries took positions that could get them closer to this point of crisis. But I still think that both Cairo and Washington will continue to try hard to stop short of it."
This may explain the warm welcome that Foreign Minister Amr Moussa extended last week to visiting US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, despite the sometimes tough nature of the private conversations that they had in Sharm Al-Sheikh on a number of regional issues of bilateral concern.
Egypt's fairly uncompromising position against Israel's policy of turning the peace process into a game in which Tel Aviv is the only winner has often caused unpleasant moments in Egypt-US relations. But these were usually surmounted by Egypt's willingness to host meetings that send across an encouraging message to the parties -- as it did in Sharm Al-Sheikh a few weeks ago when the Wye River accords were revised and revived.
A senior Egyptian source said, "When it comes to the peace process, we have always said what we wanted to say. Sometimes the Americans realised that they were wrong and we were right, as the case was with former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Sometimes they did not and sometimes we have even had to burn our fingers and pay a price. But that is what we have to do as the leading country in this part of the world."
Egypt is determined to be just as "strong-willed" when the time comes for discussing the issue of armament, "or hopefully disarmament", in the Middle East, said one official.
Indeed, according to recent statements by Moussa, this dossier cannot be dealt with in bits and pieces. The whole issue has to be looked at in its entirety, with the Israeli nuclear arsenal being part and parcel of the discussion, he said. According to the foreign minister, "The Middle East cannot have one nuclear state [Israel]. It may tolerate having two, but not one, since that would cause great imbalance."
The recent reported progress in the peace process has not at all eliminated areas of difference between Cairo and Washington over the issue. As some diplomats like to say, the road ahead is not strewn with roses.
Sudan and Iraq have been the two obvious reasons why Cairo and Washington had increasing differences in the past year or so. Egypt wants to see the territorial integrity of both countries maintained. Moreover, Egypt insists that the time has come to at least start a partial lifting of the economic sanctions against Iraq and that no economic sanctions be imposed on Sudan. This is not exactly what the US has in mind.
"Talks between Egyptian and US officials on these two issues, particularly that of Sudan, have not always been very friendly in the past few months. Egypt is having a tough time with the US on this particular matter," said one insider. He added: "The Americans say that, in principle, they agree with us that Sudan should not be divided into two countries, but what they are doing is providing assistance to the southern Sudanese rebels, [thus] encouraging them to seek independence."
Whether Sudan is to be divided or not is only part of a wider clash between future Egyptian and American plans for the region. According to the same source, the problem is that "Washington is not feeling too comfortable with Egypt's regional role".
"I think that over the past few years, the Americans have come to realise that Egypt can never be their friend unconditionally, especially when it comes to regional developments," said one diplomat. "This is becoming clearer and clearer and it is possibly the reason behind the mounting frequency of disagreements."
What the Americans would like to see is Egypt becoming part of an East Mediterranean security arrangement that would bring together Israel, Turkey, Greece, and Jordan. This cluster seems to be in the making, now that Greek-Turkish relations have shown some improvement. Instead, Egypt seems to be thinking of "a better" future for the Arab world once a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace has been achieved. When this peace settlement is reached, Egypt appears set to work hard on the long-term projects of inter-Arab reconciliation. "We do not at all think that making peace with Israel should mean that there is no further need for a united Arab world," said an Egyptian diplomatic source.
Meanwhile, the US is telling Egypt that it needs to think more in broad Middle Eastern terms.
"We are not bothered by who wants to see us doing what. What would bother us is to see our wider national Arab interests being endangered," commented an Egyptian official.
Nevertheless, Egypt, as its high-ranking officials have said openly, wants to work with, and not against, the US. This, they explain, was the reason why Egypt worked for three years to persuade Washington to launch an institutionalised strategic dialogue between the two countries, in which officials of both sides could agree on how to manage their differences.
"It would be idiotic to think we can battle with the US; there is no point in that. All we need to do is to make sure that the Americans do not ignore our point of view," said one official.
In the past two months, several high-ranking US officials were in town to discuss different forms of bilateral cooperation. Besides Albright, Secretary of Defence William Cohen and Secretary of Commerce William Daley visited Egypt.
Moreover, businessmen from both countries are increasingly engaging in joint projects.
"So, I think that the broad Egyptian-US cooperation will continue. Tension may increase at certain points over regional issues, but it is not going to wreck the relationship," commented one source.
