Region | Egypt
Egyptians pour scorn on 'feeble diplomacy'
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gaith has drawn withering criticism after he was snapped in a congenial mood while emerging from talks with his Israeli counterpart recently.
- By Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent
- Published: 23:35 January 10, 2009
- Thousands of protesters shout slogans condemning Israel's invasion of Gaza during a demonstration in Mahala, Egypt, on Friday.
- Image Credit: EPA
Cairo: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gaith has drawn withering criticism after he was snapped in a congenial mood while emerging from talks with his Israeli counterpart recently.
"A photo, showing our Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gaith tenderly holding the hand of his Israeli counterpart after their talks in Cairo, made him appear as though he was walking along with a close friend with whom he shared fond memories. Every Arab found this photo provocative." These words, penned by Mohammad Al Baz in the independent newspaper Al Khamis last week, echoed scorn heaped on Aboul Gaith across Egypt.
"He is the worst foreign minister in Egypt's history," Al Baz signed off.
Since Israel launched its invasion of Gaza on Dec-ember 27, Aboul Gaith, who served as Egypt's envoy at the UN before being picked for the foreign minister's post in 2004, has been under fire for what detractors describe as his inept handling of the crisis.
Muddled policy
Two days before the invasion of Gaza Israeli Foreign Minister Tizpi Livni had visited Cairo, where she met President Hosni Mub-arak and Aboul Gaith. Their talks prompted critics inside and outside Egypt to accuse Cairo of collusion in the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
"Aboul Gaith is disastrously implementing an originally muddled policy," said Hamdeen Sabahi, an independent Egyptian member of parliament. "He should have responded harshly to the threats Livni declared against Hamas while standing next to him in Cairo. But he did nothing except uttering lacklustre and weak statements. His diplomacy has added to Egypt's predicament and put it on the defensive," Sabahi told Gulf News.
Senior Egyptian officials have denied any knowledge about Israel's intentions to attack Gaza and instead blamed Hamas fighters who control Gaza for blocking Egyptian efforts to renew a truce with the Jewish state
"The Egyptian stance during the Gaza crisis has been so confused that it has sent a wrong message to the world that Egypt is indirectly involved in the Israeli aggression on Gaza," said Abdullah Al Ashal, a former Egyptian diplomat, describing Aboul Gaith's performance as "feeble and unconvincing".
President Hosni Mub-arak recently hit back at Cairo's critics and said that Egypt would "not heed such trivialities".
"The Egyptian diplomatic management of the Gaza crisis is the worst in long years," said Sami Mansour, a political analyst. "For no apparent reason, the Egyptian diplomacy appeared weak before the Israeli aggression. This weakness worsened after the aggression," Mansour added.
Waning leadership
He cited Aboul Gaith's visit to Turkey, following the commencement of the Israeli invasion to elicit support for Egyptian efforts to halt the violence in Gaza, as additional evidence of failure. "It gave the impression that Egypt had lost its regional leadership," he said.
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