Egypt-U.S. Relationship Is Strained by Iraq Crisis
When Secretary of State Colin L. Powell presented a new program last week to build democratic institutions and fight poverty in Arab countries with $29 million in fresh annual aid, the reaction from Egypt was about as welcoming as a hot gust of wind in the desert.

An article in Al Akhbar, the government-owned daily, dismissed the bid to improve America's image in the region, "given that it lacks honesty, justice and transparency." The article said the plan "confirmed the belief long upheld in the region of how Israel currently controls the decision-making process in the U.S."

Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher was somewhat more diplomatic, saying that "it does not touch on the basic problem which is the cause of the other problems, and that is the lack of a Middle East settlement."

Egypt remains Washington's strongest ally in the Arab world, but the two countries appear exceptionally out of step at the very moment the Bush administration is preparing for a possible invasion of Iraq.

President Hosni Mubarak has made his position clear for months that an attack on Iraq could let loose a virulently radical backlash across a region already incensed by the Israeli crackdown in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

That is not an unusual stance in the Arab world, but it comes in stark contrast to Egypt's position preparing for and fighting the first Persian Gulf war a little over a decade ago. After Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Egypt persuaded several Arab countries, including Syria, to join the American-led coalition and contributed 36,000 ground troops.

Egypt was handsomely rewarded for its role in the war, with Western creditors forgiving two-thirds of the nation's debt, which in turn led to an opening of the Egyptian economy, higher growth rates and the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the mid-1990's.

The Egyptian economy — now sputtering from a loss of tourism revenue and lower tolls on the Suez Canal, among other reasons — could use another boost. But Egyptian officials say the prospect of increased Western help would not be worth the risk of going to war again.

Egypt strongly supports United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for Iraqi disarmament and vigorous examinations by weapons inspectors of suspected Iraqi armament plants. But Egypt has made it abundantly clear that it will not contribute troops or active military support to a second gulf war.

Officials here note that the Suez Canal remains open to American warships moving into the gulf, but they refused to pledge that Egyptian waters and air space will remain open to American military operations if a prolonged war produces a heated reaction against the United States and its allies in the region.

With a population of 70 million, Egypt remains the intellectual, cultural and political capital of the Arab world. As an ally of the United States that has received $2 billion in annual aid from Washington since it made peace with Israel in the 1970's, Egypt continues to be a bridge between the rest of the Arab world and the West.

It is a balancing act that is particularly delicate at this juncture.

Mr. Mubarak has not talked to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq in more than a decade, according to his aides, but his emissaries helped persuade Mr. Hussein to allow the United Nations weapons inspectors back into his country.

Now Egypt is pressing the United States to give the inspectors enough time to do their work, even if that puts off an attack indefinitely.

"If America wishes to keep its credibility in the area, an unjustified war should not be in the cards," Mr. Osman said in an interview. "The area is pregnant with tension. We have our hands full, and we don't need more tension. We feel a military strike could unleash violence and terrorism, which will definitely spill over beyond the area."

Mr. Osman said the first Bush administration had wisely tamped down regional passions by expressing an intention to address Palestinian aspirations.

Egyptian officials said Mr. Mubarak laid out a host of concerns in several meetings with the current President Bush this year, including fears that broad antipathy among Arabs about how Israel is dealing with the Palestinians would provide ample tinder for terrorists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/17/international/middleeast/17EGYP.html