Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, delivering the keynote address at the African American History Month forum honoring Patrice Lumumba on Feb. 26, 2011. (Photo: Andrea Egypt)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
U.S. seeks to influence political developments in North Africa
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
There was a new cabinet sworn in on Feb. 22 in Egypt in the aftermath of the resignation of former President Hosni Mubarak, the suspension of parliament and the previous government which was precipitated by a coup carried out by the Supreme Military Council on Feb. 11. The appointment of a new cabinet and the issuing of a first set of political reforms on Feb. 26, is an attempt to address the demands of the Egyptian people for the rapid return to civilian rule.
The reform package was the result of a series of discussions between the military, civilian organizations and a panel of “experts” established by the ruling military council. This same panel of experts is expected to call for a national referendum in March on the proposed changes to the constitution.
In the aftermath of the referendum in March, national elections involving political parties are anticipated by September. Sobhi Saleh, an appointee of the judicial committee set up by the military council, stated that “The military council hands power to the people in a gradual process.” (Al Jazeera, Feb. 26)
These announcements of gradual political reform came in the immediate aftermath of actions by the military on Feb. 26 that raised concerns inside the country. Al Jazeera reported that the army “used force to disperse activists gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand the removal of Hosni Mubarak loyalists from the interim cabinet.”
Reuters news agency reported that “soldiers fired in the air and used batons in the early hours of Saturday (Feb. 26) to disperse the crowd. Demonstrators had also gathered in front of the parliament building in Cairo, where police beat protesters and used tasers to suppress the crowds.” (Reuters, Feb. 26)
The objective of the demonstrations on Feb. 25 and 26 was to celebrate the two week anniversary of the resignation of Mubarak and to guard against what activists called a “counter-revolution of the people’s power.” (Al Jazeera, Feb. 26) One demonstrator, Ashraf Omar, told Al Jazeera that “I am one of thousands of people who stood their ground after the army started dispersing the protesters, shooting live bullets into the air to scare them.”
The soldiers who attacked the protesters in Tahrir Square and the parliament building on Feb. 26 wore black masks to conceal their faces so they could not be identified by activists. Military buses were brought to the square in order to arrest demonstrators that refused to move out of the area.
Omar said that “It is a cat-and-mouse chase between the army and the people. There is no more unity between the people and the army.”
The activist continued stressing that “They were using tasers and sticks to beat us without any control. I thought things would change. I wanted to give the government a chance but there is no hope with this regime. “
Omar then concluded “There is no use. I am back on the street. I either live with dignity or I die here.”
During the course of the demonstration on Feb. 25, the activists called for the resignation of the interim government headed by Ahmed Shafiq--who served under Mubarak--the immediate release of political prisoners and the issuing of a general amnesty for all of the people involved in the demonstrations since Jan. 25.
Imperialists Move to Derail Revolutionary Movement
The democratic movement in Egypt is not only confronting the military inside the country but is also up against efforts by the U.S. and other imperialist states to control and misdirect the struggle for a genuine transformation of the state and society. On Feb. 28 it was announced that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has one billion euros available to invest in both Egypt and Morocco, which also experienced mass demonstrations in recent weeks.
A Bloomberg news report stated that “The EBRD, which has fostered the building of market economies in eastern Europe in the past two decades (since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Comecon sector), stands ready to help nations in North Africa and the Middle East, adding to the 29 countries where it invests,” noted Thomas Mirow, the bank’s president.
In addition, U.S. Senators and militarists, John McCain and Joseph Liberman, visited Israel and Egypt recently in efforts to influence the situation in the region. The politicians told the international media that Israel would be even more secure under the “democratic” regimes that will be established in North Africa and the Arab Peninsula.
“In the short-term, they (Israel) are obviously less secure because of the unpredictability here and the situation is unpredictable. But in the long-run, I think they are confident they can do business better with democracies than they can with dictatorships,” McCain told the French Press Agency. (AFP, Feb. 27)
According to Liberman, the United States “should feel good about the assistance we have given the Egyptian military over the years since the peace deal” with Israel in 1979. He went on to say that “The Egyptian military really allowed this revolution in Egypt to be peaceful and let the people carry out their desire for political freedom and economic opportunity.” (AFP, Feb. 27)
The AFP reported that both McCain and Liberman held high level meetings with the Egyptian military and “urged them to be inclusive, to meet with opposition figures, to be thoughtful about how and when they hold elections because the Egyptian military doesn’t want to run this country.”
An interview with Gareth Porter, an investigative journalist based in Washington, emphasized that the two senators were sent to the region to assess the current situation amid ongoing strikes and mass demonstrations by workers and youth organizations in Egypt. Porter said that the statements made by McCain and Liberman indicate “how ignorant the right-wing senators are about the nature of the democracy movement and the problem that is now faced in Egypt.” (Press TV, Feb. 28)
It was also announced on Feb. 27 that Egyptian gas supplies would resume to Israel on March 4. The flow of this resource from the Egyptian National Gas Company was disrupted as a result of an explosion in the Sinai. This announcement was made by the Ampal-American Israel Corporation, which has a 12.5 percent interest in East Mediterranean Gas.
The situation in Egypt and Tunisia is also becoming more complicated in light of the efforts to remove the Libyan government from office. The United States and NATO are using these events to enhance imperialist military involvement in North Africa.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Feb. 28 announced that two teams of supposed humanitarian personnel will soon arrive in Egypt on the border with Libya to address the concerns of tens of thousands of displaced workers who have been employed in the oil and construction industries.
Clinton told the AFP that “We are very concerned about the humanitarian situation. We’re also immediately dispatching two expert humanitarian teams to the borders with Tunisia and Egypt, to assist those fleeing the violence.” (AFP, Feb. 28)
No comments:
Post a Comment