----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: New developments on the Saad
Eddin Ibrahim case
From: "Coptic Information
Center" <irene@copticdigest.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2002 12:57:12 -0400
Human-rights case puts aid vise on Egypt;
U.S. withholding millions over jailing of
activist
Chicago Tribune
August 15,
By Howard Witt, Tribune senior
correspondent.
The Bush administration has decided to
withhold any additional aid to
Egypt because of Cairo's imprisonment of a
leading democracy
advocate, squeezing a key Arab ally over
human-rights concerns for
the first time since the war on terrorism
was declared,
administration officials said Wednesday.
Egypt is the second-largest recipient of
U.S. military and economic
aid, after Israel, and has been entitled
to rough parity with what
Israel receives under the terms of the
1979 Camp David peace accords.
Administration officials said that the
nearly $2 billion in annual
U.S. assistance that Egypt receives would
not be affected. But Cairo
would not be eligible for any additional
aid as a result of last
month's sentencing of Saad Eddin Ibrahim,
a sociology professor at
the American University in Cairo, to 7
years in prison.
The case was denounced as a sham by
human-rights groups and Western
governments.
U.S. upset with response
"At this time, it is impossible to
contemplate additional assistance
to Egypt, given the situation with Dr.
Ibrahim," a senior State
Department official said. "The
Egyptians have not been particularly
responsive on this case."
Ibrahim, who holds dual Egyptian and U.S.
citizenship, was convicted
on charges of embezzlement, tarnishing
Egypt's reputation and
accepting foreign funding in connection
with a grant from the
European Union to monitor Egypt's 2000
parliamentary elections.
An EU audit cleared Ibrahim of any
wrongdoing, however, prompting
human-rights groups and foreign diplomats
to condemn the proceedings
against him. Amnesty International said
the conviction "aims to
silence the human-rights movement in
Egypt."
Last week, U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.),
the chairman of the House
International Relations Committee, wrote
to Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak to urge him to intervene in the
case.
"Dismissal of the charges against Dr.
Ibrahim would make it far
easier for those of us in the United
States Congress ... to continue
to support your country," Hyde said
in his letter.
The decision by the Bush administration to
withhold further aid from
Egypt over human-rights concerns, which
has not been publicly
announced, represents a sharp rebuke to
Mubarak, whom President Bush
has welcomed to the White House twice this
year.
Regime known as repressive
Mubarak's regime has long been denounced
by human-rights advocates
inside and outside Egypt as repressive and
anti-democratic.
In its latest annual human-rights report,
the State Department noted
the government's restrictions on freedom
of expression and criticized
the security forces for committing
"numerous, serious human-rights
abuses."
But because Mubarak is regarded as a key
moderate Arab ally and
interlocutor with the Palestinians in the
Middle East, the Bush
administration has until now muted its
criticism of him, to the
dismay of Egyptian democracy activists.
Egyptian diplomats in Washington could not
be reached for comment
Wednesday evening. But a congressional
aide said Egypt had recently
begun lobbying the administration for its
"share" of $200 million in
additional foreign aid that Congress has
directed for Israel as part
of a $5.1 billion supplemental
anti-terrorism appropriation.
President Bush on Tuesday said he would
not spend the funds because
the additional government spending would
harm the economy. But
Israel's supporters on Capitol Hill expect
the funds will be cleared
eventually.
$130 million at stake
Under the Camp David accords, Egypt would
be entitled to about $130
million, the congressional aide said,
although that money has not yet
been appropriated.
"This is the first time that the
United States has ever linked human
rights to aid to any country in the Middle
East," said Tom
Malinowski, Washington spokesman for Human
Rights Watch.
"I would have to acknowledge that if
this happens, it really does
represent an improvement," he added.
Arab diplomats and human-rights activists
complain that Israel has
not been subject to similar U.S. scrutiny
regarding the treatment of
Palestinians.
Egypt rejects reported US pressure over
rights case: Maher
CAIRO, Aug 15
Egypt's foreign minister said Thursday
Cairo "will not accept any
pressure" from abroad, reacting to
reports that President George W.
Bush will oppose any new US aid to Egypt
to protest a jail sentence
handed down on an Egyptian-American rights
activist.
The Washington Post said Thursday that
Bush would notify Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak soon about his
decision, following the
sentencing of Saad Eddin Ibrahim to seven
years in jail. "Egypt does
not accept any pressure, of any kind, and
everyone knows it," Ahmed
Maher told the press when asked about the
article.
Ibrahim, a prominent human rights and
democracy activist who is also
a sociology professor, was sentenced on
July 29 following a retrial
on charges that included tarnishing
Egypt's image abroad.
The "case of Saad Eddin Ibrahim has
been examined by the judiciary,"
Maher said. "We have already
explained ourselves over this affair.
"We do not interfere in the course of
justice, and we asked everyone
to accept the decisions of our
judiciary."
The Washington Post report said the
decision would not affect
existing aid programs to Egypt -- nearly
two billion dollars a year --
administration sources told the daily.
Mubarak, however, had been lobbying for an
extra 150 million dollars
in US aid, arguing tit-for-tat after the
US Congress voted recently
to grant Israel 200 million dollars in
anti-terrorism funds.
The US policy change would be notable, as
Egypt has been considered a
longtime ally of the United States and a
prominent player in efforts
to defuse the Israeli-Palestinian and
remove Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein from power.