The election results dissipated mounting fears inside the administration that the country’s election commission would invalidate the recent presidential runoff and declare a former air force general, Ahmed Shafik, the next president. Officials were concerned that such a move would set off violent protests among more than 100,000 Egyptians who had gathered in Tahrir Square to demand that the military cede power to a civilian government as promised.
“The message to both: Don’t mess this up, please!” said Robert Malley, director of the International Crisis Group’s Middle East and North Africa program. “For the U.S., the priority is that the transition proceeds smoothly, without violence and with a minimum of instability. But it does not have significant leverage on events insofar as the West is distrusted by all sides in Egypt.”
Leading American lawmakers had warned that Washington’s decades-old relationship with the Egyptian military, the recipient of some $1.3 billion in American aid, could be threatened if the generals maintained their refusal to honor the election results. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta had been in touch with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Egypt’s top military officer and de facto head of state.
0 Comments::
Post a Comment