ElBaradei: ‘The Process Is Opaque’
Appearing on Meet The Press, Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei criticized the Egyptian government’s handling of the current political crisis: “I should start by saying I have not been part of the negotiation. I have not been invited to take part in, in the negotiation or dialogue. But I’ve been following what is going on. I can tell you, David, that there is still a huge lack of confidence between the government and the demonstrators. There’s a good deal of fear that, that the government would—will retrench and then come back, you know, again to, to—with vengeance, if you like. The process is opaque. Nobody knows who is talking to whom at this stage. The process is managed by the outgoing regime without involvement of the new opposition, if you like, or the rest of the people.”
ElBaradei: Peace With Israel ‘Rock Solid’ But We Also Want Palestinian STate
Also during his appearance on Meet The Press, ElBaradei was asked about concerns that Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel was not rock solid. “Well I think, I think everybody saying it is rock solid,” said ElBaradei, “but, but, but everybody also saying that, at the same breath, that whether Egypt is a democracy, whether Egypt is a dictatorship everybody in Egypt, everybody in the Arab world will want to see an independent Palestinian state, David. I don’t think anybody disagree with that. That has nothing to do with the peace treaty between Egypt and, and Israel, which is, as you said, has been concluded, and I assume that Egypt will continue to respect it, you know?”
Egyptian P.M.: Arrests Of Journalists ‘Not Allowed’
Appearing on State of the Union, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said that authorities have been told “not to bother” journalists and human rights activists — and that if there have been such problems, they are “not intended.” Shafiq also said that arrests and journalists human rights activists “are not allowed at all.”
Egyptian Ambassador: Violence Against Journalists ‘Totally Unacceptable’
Appearing on This Week, Egyptian Ambassador to the United States Sameh Shoukry commented on violence against journalists occurring in his country. “It’s a deplorable situation, one that has been condemned by various officials in the Egyptian government. It’s totally unacceptable,” said Shoukry. “But unfortunately the political vacuum and the political situation, with many different segments and proponents of these demonstrations have caused a difficult security environment and I’m confident that this will not be recurring.”
Kerry: U.S. Always Knew About “Pent-Up Demand” In Egypt
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) explained the manner in which the Egyptian uprising took American policymakers by surprise — saying that the U.S. had always known of and spoken about the “pent-up demand” for change in the country: “What happened in Tunisia is what triggered this, and what happened on Facebook and what happened with Twitter is what suddenly drove it. And frankly, the Muslim Brotherhood was taken by surprise. Everybody in Egypt suddenly saw this moment erupt as a consequence of, of, of this pent-up demand and of what happened in Tunisia. So the fact of the need for reform, the pent-up demand, the anguish, humiliation, anger, frustration, all of those are things that we knew were there and we knew could possibly explode. But the moment and manner in which it exploded is a reflection of what’s happened with respect to the new media and what happened in Tunisia.”
Alan Simpson: ‘Dig Into The Big Four’ On Spending
Appearing on State of the Union, former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY), a former co-chairman of President Obama’s debt commission, criticized lawmakers for their handling of the issue. “I’m waiting for the politician to get up and say, there’s only one way to do this, you dig into the big four, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and defense,” said Simpson. “Anybody giving you anything different than that, you want to walk out the door, stick your finger down your throat, and give them the green weenie.”
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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