Posted: Yesterday at 9:00 pm EST
CAIRO (AP) -- The number two diplomat in the U.S. State Department met Wednesday with leaders of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the highest-level contact between Washington and the once-banned group poised to dominate the country's first parliament chosen after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met with the head of the Brotherhood's political party, which has won more than 40 percent of the seats in elections that ended Wednesday. The parliament is scheduled to convene on Jan. 23.
Its main task is to appoint a 100-member panel to write a new constitution. With its election victory, the Islamist group could have significant influence over its content.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Burns' meeting with the Brotherhood leaders was a chance to reinforce U.S. expectations that Egypt's parties will support human rights, women's rights and religious tolerance.
Mohammed Morsi, head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, told Burns that there is a consensus on civic freedoms and rights for the new constitution, according to a party statement.
The meeting was part of an effort by the U.S. government to reach out to the Brotherhood after decades of shunning the movement, which was outlawed under Mubarak's regime. Thousands of its members were arrested during his 30-year old rule, though its members were allowed to run as independent candidates in parliamentary elections.
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met with the head of the Brotherhood's political party, which has won more than 40 percent of the seats in elections that ended Wednesday. The parliament is scheduled to convene on Jan. 23.
Its main task is to appoint a 100-member panel to write a new constitution. With its election victory, the Islamist group could have significant influence over its content.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Burns' meeting with the Brotherhood leaders was a chance to reinforce U.S. expectations that Egypt's parties will support human rights, women's rights and religious tolerance.
Mohammed Morsi, head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, told Burns that there is a consensus on civic freedoms and rights for the new constitution, according to a party statement.
The meeting was part of an effort by the U.S. government to reach out to the Brotherhood after decades of shunning the movement, which was outlawed under Mubarak's regime. Thousands of its members were arrested during his 30-year old rule, though its members were allowed to run as independent candidates in parliamentary elections.
No comments:
Post a Comment