Deputy Secretary of State Burns Arrives in Egypt

The U.S. State Department announced that Deputy Secretary of State William Burns arrived in Cairo Tuesday for meetings with Egyptian officials, politicians, businesspeople, and civil society leaders. Victoria Nuland, spokeswoman for the State Department, said the discussions “will focus on U.S.-Egyptian bilateral relations; our strong support for Egypt’s democratic political transition, including an active and independent civil society; and the current economic challenges facing Egypt”. These discussions are also expected to address the recent raids on the offices of American-funded nongovernmental organizations by Egyptian police. The raids took place on December 29, when police and military stormed the offices of over a dozen NGOs around Egypt, including the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, which receive funding from the U.S. government. Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Faiza Abu Al Naga implied that the civil society groups received foreign funding to promote instability and “influence public opinion in non-peaceful ways”. U.S. officials expressed concern about the manner in which the raids were conducted, and they have drawn harsh criticism from members of Congress.

Deputy Secretary William Burns will also meet with representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party, according to party spokesperson Ahmed Sobea. “It will be the highest-level meeting with any official from the United States,” Sobea said. The meeting comes after the Islamist party performed well in recent elections for Egypt’s lower house of parliament, the People’s Assembly. The Freedom and Justice party won over 45 percent of seats, while the conservative Salafi Al Nour party came in second with over 25 percent. Burns is not expected to meet with Al Nour party representatives during his visit. In an interview with Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm, Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman said that “there’s been a dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood for many, many years”, but that the U.S. would wait and see “what the Salafis do when they enter parliament”. Elections for the Egypt’s upper house of parliament, the Shura Council, are scheduled to begin January 29.