U.S. shifts to closer contact with Egypt Islamists
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – The United States will resume limited contacts with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed on Thursday, saying it was in Washington’s interests to deal with parties committed to non-violent politics.
While Clinton portrayed the administration’s decision as a continuation of an earlier policy, it reflects a subtle shift in that U.S. officials will be able to deal directly with officials of the Islamist movement who are not members of parliament.
Clinton concerned about democratic freedoms in Hungary
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced concern on Thursday about democratic freedoms in Hungary and said essential checks and balances should be strengthened.
Opponents of the center-right government say it has undermined press freedoms, curbed the powers of the country’s top constitutional court and passed a constitution that may entrench its influence after its term ends in 2014.
U.S. to resume formal Muslim Brotherhood contacts, official says
(The skyline of Washington DCl, May 22, 2009/Larry Downing)
The United States has decided to resume formal contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, a senior U.S. official said, in a step that reflects the Islamist group’s growing political weight but that is almost certain to upset Israel and its U.S. backers. “The political landscape in Egypt has changed, and is changing,” said the senior official, who spokeon Wednesday on condition of anonymity. “It is in our interests to engage with all of the parties that are competing for parliament or the presidency.”
The official sought to portray the shift as a subtle evolution rather than a dramatic change in Washington’s stance toward the Brotherhood, a group founded in 1928 that seeks to promote its conservative vision of Islam in society. Under the previous policy, U.S. diplomats were allowed to deal with Brotherhood members of parliament who had won seats as independents — a diplomatic fiction that allowed them to keep lines of communication open.
Exclusive: U.S. to resume formal Muslim Brotherhood contacts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has decided to resume formal contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, in a step that reflects the Islamist group’s growing political weight but that is almost certain to upset Israel and its U.S. backers.
“The political landscape in Egypt has changed, and is changing,” said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It is in our interests to engage with all of the parties that are competing for parliament or the presidency.”
U.S. sanctions Iranian police for rights abuses
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States said on Thursday it had sanctioned Iran’s national police force and police chief and two other security forces for serious rights violations since Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential election.
The sanctions, announced by the U.S. departments of State and Treasury, apply to Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces and its commander Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, and to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij Resistance Force.
Analysis: West tries modest steps to add pressure on Syria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – While the United States and its allies want to raise pressure on Syria to end its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters, there are few signs the West, let alone the Arab world, is ready for robust action that might make a difference.
Britain and France have floated a new U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria and a senior diplomat said European Union nations were looking at a fresh round of sanctions targeting companies in the country.
U.S. pushes for immediate transition in Yemen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States made clear on Monday it hopes the Yemeni government will capitalize on President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s absence to start a political transition to end his 32-year rule.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other U.S. officials said Yemen, which has been brought to the brink of civil war by clashes between pro- and anti-Saleh forces, should begin a nonviolent transition consistent with its constitution.
Clinton, citing Syrian boy, sees “total collapse”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The reported torture of a Syrian boy shows the “total collapse” of Syrian authorities’ willingness to listen to anti-government protesters, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday.
In some of her harshest comments about Syria’s crackdown on the protests, Clinton suggested the Assad government’s hold on power was weakening, while a U.S. spokesman described the 13-year-old boy’s reported treatment as “horrifying” and “appalling.”
Torture of Syrian boy shows “total collapse”: Clinton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The reported torture of a Syrian boy shows the “total collapse” of Syrian authorities’ willingness to listen to anti-government protesters, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday.
In some of her harshest comments about Syria’s crackdown on the protests, Clinton suggested the Assad government’s hold on power was weakening, while a U.S. spokesman described the 13-year-old boy’s reported treatment as “horrifying” and “appalling.”
Clinton calls on Pakistan to do more against militants
ISLAMABAD, May 27 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton said on Friday that Pakistan needed to take
decisive steps against Islamist militancy and that relations
between the two allies, tense since the killing of Osama bin
Laden, had reached a turning point.
Clinton, the most senior U.S. official to visit Pakistan
since U.S. Navy SEALS killed the al Qaeda leader this month,
appeared to be trying to smooth over strains, repeating that
there was no evidence that any senior Pakistani officials had
known of bin Laden’s whereabouts.
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