Egypt rejects European parliament vote

[ronyvo]

Egypt rejects European parliament rights vote

23/01/2008

CAIRO (AFP)

Egypt on Friday angrily rejected a European parliament resolution criticizing its human rights record, with Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit saying it revealed both arrogance and ignorance.
The ministry also said it was considering calling off EU talks due to take place next week in Cairo while Parliament speaker Fathi Surur said Egypt will boycott an EU meeting on Sunday in Brussels to protest against Thursday's vote.
"Egypt totally rejects attempts by anyone who takes it upon himself to be an investigator of human rights in Egypt," Abul Gheit said in remarks carried by MENA news agency.
"The resolution reveals the (European) assembly's ignorance of the situation in Egypt... as well as ignorance of the political, economic and social reforms that Egypt has witnessed in recent years," he said.
"Egypt does not need lessons from anyone, particularly if this party is arrogant and ignorant."
In a statement the foreign ministry said Egypt is considering "calling off a meeting of the EU-Egypt subcommittee on political affairs due to take place in Cairo" on Wednesday and Thursday.
On Thursday 52 out of 59 European lawmakers present at the European assembly in Strasbourg voted in favor of a resolution, slamming Egypt over the status of religious minorities, alleged torture practices and a decades-long state of emergency.
Seven EU MPs abstained from the vote which came as Cairo threatened to sever ties with the European assembly and called in EU ambassadors to complain.
The resolution also called for the immediate release of dissident Ayman Nur, who was jailed for five years in December 2005 for fraud after mounting a virulent campaign against President Hosni Mubarak in presidential elections.
Surur had threatened on Wednesday to cut links with the European parliament over the resolution.
"The People's Assembly (Egypt's lower house) will consider cutting ties with the European Parliament... as long as it continues to use the language of commands and condescension," he told MENA.
On Friday Egyptian newspapers quoted Surur as saying that the president of parliament's commission on national security, Mohammed Bassiouni, would boycott a Euro-Mediterranean meeting set for Sunday "in a sign of protest."
Egypt was also considering asking the union of Muslim parliaments to issue a formal protest when it meets later this month, MENA quoted foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki as saying.
Zaki rejected European criticism of the status of religious minorities such as Christian Copts in Egypt, saying Europe should be more concerned about its own record in dealing with Muslims and minorities.
He denounced what he said was the "spread of hatred for foreigners and discrimination against Muslims across Europe," MENA reported.
Zaki also rejected a reference in the European resolution which called on Cairo to exert more effort to stamp out smuggling into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, and implicitly accused Israel of being behind the clause.
Mentioning the Gaza border "raises much doubt about the motives which pushed some of the European parliamentarians and their links with those who benefit from constantly exaggerating the issue," the ministry said in a statement.
Both the United States and Israel have put pressure on Egypt, accusing it of not doing enough to stop the flow of weapons from entering the Palestinian territory through tunnels under the border with Egypt.
Zaki said that raising this issue "cast doubts" over the aims of the European resolution.
International organizations have repeatedly expressed concern about human rights in Egypt, including continued crackdowns on political dissent and the state of emergency in effect since 1981.

[Humanist]

Apparently the truth is really hurting Egypt.
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"Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - George Orwell

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