Washington: US Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, on Saturday spoke with the Egyptian military leadership to express America’s “deep concern” about raids in Egypt against human rights organisation and NGOs.
The Egyptian military leadership is believed to have assured the Defense Secretary to halt raids against these NGOs, many of whom are supported and funded by the US.
In his 25-minute telephonic conversation with the Egyptian Field Marshal Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Panetta expressed his “deep concern” about the raids that took place on December 29 on the offices of American and other NGOs.
“He also conveyed his appreciation for Field Marshal Tantawi’s prompt decision to halt the raids, and to take steps that will make it easier for NGOs to operate in Egypt,” the Pentagon Press Secretary, George Little, said.
Panetta emphasised that after two successful rounds of parliamentary elections, it is critical for Egypt to continue on the path to democratic transition.
“The Secretary reaffirmed the importance of the US-Egyptian security relationship, and made clear that the US remains committed to the strategic partnership and stands ready to cooperate with Egypt as it continues its democratic transition,” Little said.
Meanwhile, The New York Times quoted senior American officials saying that Egypt’s military rulers privately signaled a retreat on Saturday in a crackdown on organisations that promote democracy and human rights, even as the authorities in Cairo tried to discredit the organisations with accusations of suspicious activity.
“Field Marshal Tantawi offered the assurances during a 25-minute telephone conversation on Friday with the American defense secretary, Leon E Panetta.
“The conversation capped a flurry of diplomatic protests over the shutdown of the groups and unusually sharp public criticism from the United States and Europe,” the daily reported.
A day earlier, the State Department had expressed concern over the raids. “The United States is deeply concerned that Egyptian judicial and police officials raided the offices of a number of nongovernmental organizations on Saturday, including the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute.
“This action is inconsistent with the bilateral cooperation we have had over many years,” Nuland said. Nuland said these NGOs – which were raided by Egyptian officials – were there to support the democratic process. (PTI)
“Some of these are institutions that are supported by the United States government; that work around the world in the interest of helping citizens realize their goals of democratic processes taking root in their country,” she said. The two NGOs in question – NDI and IRI – are strongly supported with US government funds and their primary purpose is to support the development of democratic institutions. They work most actively, both NDI and IRI, in countries that are in democratic transition. “They do things like train poll monitors, train poll workers, train political parties in how to mount their campaigns. “But they don’t support any individual candidate, any individual party,” she said. “All of their work is open to public scrutiny and to government scrutiny. And we’ve been, particularly in the Egyptian case, they have been extremely transparent about the programs that they have in Egypt, about who’s participating, etc,” the US official said.
