Straining ties for strange goals

U.S. President George W. Bush announced recently that his administration will suspend additional financial aid to Egypt in protest against the seven-year prison sentence handed down to Saad Eddin Ibrahim, the American-Egyptian sociology professor and director of the Ibn Khaldun Centre for Develop-mental Studies (ICDS). Ibrahim is accused of embezzlement, receiving foreign funds without authorisation and tarnishing Egypt's image.

The White House spokesman confirmed that this decision would neither affect the relationship with Egypt nor the existing financial aid. However, Egyptian Foreign Minister, Ahmad Maher, reaffirmed his country's rejection of any interference in its judicial system, saying that his country does not allow any foreign pressure in its internal affairs.

The following is a review of the Arab press' analysis of the case of Ibrahim and its repercussion on the U.S.- Egypt relationship.

Egypt has joined Saudi Arabia on top of the list of Arab and Islamic countries suffering from the campaign of defamation that rages in the U.S., writes Al Jazeera (Saudi Arabia) in its editorial comment.

Egypt is now being targeted by American propaganda under the pretext of violating human rights, with reference to the recent sentencing of Ibrahim to a seven-year prison term. Despite the solid grounds of the case, the American media persists in considering the verdict a violation of human rights, while ignoring the real abuse of human rights suffered by the Palestinians under the Israeli occupation, says Al Jazeera.

After the leaking of the Rand Corporation report accusing Saudi Arabia of allegedly being the "source of terrorism", a group of lawyers and families of the victims of September 11 decided to file a case against those who supported the terrorists financially and logistically, adds Al Jazeera.

It seems that the American media are more concerned with falsifying the truth and increasing the hatred against Arabs and Muslims, concludes Al Jazeera.

Ironically, on the same day of the announcement of the suspension of financial aid to Egypt, about 600 relatives of the victims of September 11 filed a case against a number of Saudi individuals, banks and charity organisations. This step seems to be the largest operation to blackmail Saudi Arabia, writes Al Khaleej (UAE) in its editorial comment.

The lawsuit alleges that some Saudi personalities and charity organisations are involved in the September 11 attacks by funding the Al Qaida organisation and its leader, Osama bin Laden. In reality, the U.S. was the instigator of this aid when it supported the Afghan Mujahideen in their war against the Soviet Union, adds Al Khaleej.

That is why the damages should be paid by the U.S., not only for what happened on September 11 but also for what is occurring the world over because of its thoughtless policies. The lawsuit is the culmination of the frenetic media campaign targeting Saudi Arabia. However, it seems that the main objective of this campaign is to transfer Saudi Arabia's wealth abroad and to oblige it to finance the war against Iraq, which Saudi Arabia has firmly refused to do, says Al Khaleej.

Zionist lobby at work

The recent U.S. allegations is akin to the Lockerbie case but with a slight difference. In that the U.S. has not directly accused Saudi Arabia. On the contrary, the U.S. still considers the U.S. as its strong ally in the war against terrorism. Nevertheless, it seems that the Zionist lobby is behind the U.S. in its endeavour to blackmail Saudi Arabia In fact, the families of the September 11 victims who have decided to file a case, also accuse Saudi Arabia of funding Hamas and supporting the relatives of the Palestinian suicide bombers.

Thus, no one is safe from a similar campaign of accusation, which aims at depriving Arab countries of their wealth under the pretext that it can be used to finance terrorism, concludes Al Khaleej.

The wave of U.S. accusations against some of Washington's allies has contributed to the tension between these countries and America., writes Al Sharq (Qatar) in its editorial comment.

In the case of Egypt, Washington has been exerting huge pressure on Egypt since the issuing of the verdict in the Ibrahim case, in order to reverse this judgement. All this because Ibrahim holds American citizenship and the U.S. considers he is above the law, adds Al Sharq.

Contradiction

It is strange to see the U.S. defending Ibrahim who is accused of receiving foreign funds without authorisation at a time when Washington is fighting Arab and Islamic charity organisations under the pretext that they finance terrorism, says Al Sharq.

Indeed, Bush's decision to block financial aid to Egypt coincides with the recent Egyptian rejection of American and British mediation by way of participation in the round of negotiations between the Sudanese factions in Machakos, together with the firm Egyptian opposition to the substitution of the Palestinian leadership, and Cairo's condemnation of any attack against Iraq.

Under such circumstances, the American stance appears a means of influencing the Egyptian decision with regard to all these crucial issues. The American administration is mistaken if it thinks it can blackmail Egypt, concludes Al Sharq.

Yet, the U.S. does not need excuses to create a conflict with any Arab country, because the real motive for such a conflict resides in the unconditional American support to Israel, writes Al Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) in its editorial comment.

The latest tension between Egypt and the U.S. has resulted from U.S. interference in another country's internal affairs, which reached alarming proportions with the attack on the Egyptian judicial system.

Instead of using political and economic pressure to dictate conditions or threatening to stop its financial aid, the U.S. should count on dialogue and mutual understanding. Otherwise, it will lose all its allies in the region, adds Al Riyadh.

The American administration has been unsuccessful in its efforts to pressurise the Arabs to fight Iraq on its side or to establish normal ties with Israel. On the contrary, the U.S. should deal with its allies in the region as independent partners and not as subjects or it will be repeating past mistakes, and this will only aggravate the situation in a region already under tension, concludes Al Riyadh.

In the meanwhile, President Bush has refused to grant Egypt new financial aid of about $130 million while Israel received urgent aid of $ 200 million, writes Ahmad Amourabi in Al Bayan (UAE).

Egypt requested this aid to finance its balance of payment and to stabilise its currency exchange rates, while the "urgent" aid to Israel was to sponsor its military operation in the Occupied Territories. Such an inequality in the U.S.'s dealings does not need further clarification as long as the American administration is disposed towards punishing any side that does not comply with the Israeli demands, even if this side is considered one of its allies, adds Amourabi.

The Bush administration has advanced the pretext of violation of human rights to suspend its financial aid to Egypt, while there are many other imprisoned human rights activists i