WASHINGTON // The US-Egypt relationship is in for a turbulent ride as a new Islamist-dominated political reality looks set to emerge from Egyptian elections, analysts said.
As predicted, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) was the main victor in Egypt's first round of parliamentary elections. The Obama administration appears to have readied itself for this, but it may have a battle on its hands with members of the US Congress opposed to the Islamist emergence in the region in general and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood in particular.
Analysts say the Obama administration would be willing to work with the election outcome, as long as Islamist parties were willing to play by the democratic rulebook. With Islamist parties also emerging victorious in Tunisian and Moroccan elections, the administration has little choice, said Marina Ottaway of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The administration "would much rather that the liberal parties won, but I think they are going to try to do the best they can with what emerges", she said.
Relations between Egypt and the US would be shaped by the reception any Islamist victory was given in Washington as well as the behaviour by Islamist parties in power, said Ms Ottaway.
If western governments stop "ostracising" Islamist parties, it would help strengthen moderates, Ms Ottaway said.
The emergence of the FJP as the victor was predicted. What has surprised observers, and dismayed some, has been the strong showing by the more hardline Salafist Al Nour party, which beat secularist parties in the first round.
"It is essentially up to the secular parties, the US and other foreign powers to leave the door open to dialogue and cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood. Then, probably, the more moderate trends will prevail."
While the US administration appears to have come to that conclusion, the US Congress is another matter, and it controls the purse strings.
Egypt has been the second largest recipient of US foreign aid since it signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, but both the House of Representatives and the Senate have begun considering additional conditions for that aid in the past months. In 2011, Egypt is set to receive US$1.3 billion (Dh4.77bn) in military aid and US$350 million in economic assistance.
The US Senate has said that it wants to tie further aid on assurances that a democratic process would be upheld in Egypt. But a far more strident tone was evident in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
There Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the head of the foreign affairs committee, had warned the administration not to engage the Muslim Brotherhood at all - which she in June described as "committed to violence and extremism" - or allow any funding, direct or otherwise, to benefit the movement.
A "tough moment" in US-Egypt relations looms, said Steven Cook, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations and author of The Struggle for Egypt: From Nasser to Tahrir Square.
"There is no way these results translate into the US-Egypt relationship where it doesn't put pressure on this relationship," said Mr Cook. But that would have been the same with any serious political contender in Egypt, he pointed out, where Egypt's subordinate role to US regional policy has never been popular.
"The era in which the United States can sign deals with regional authoritarians and count on those authoritarians to calculate their countries' national interest contrary to public opinion seems to be over," he said.
okarmi@thenational.ae
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The%20specs
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
Oppenheimer
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more from Janine di Giovanni
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
