Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that U.S. officials intend to build contacts with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, a sign of American concern that the conservative Islamic group is becoming one of the most important political forces in the post-Mubarak order.
Speaking to reporters in Budapest, Hungary, Clinton said that “given the changing political landscape in Egypt … it is in the interests of the United States to engage with all parties that are peaceful, and committed to nonviolence, that intend to compete for the parliament and the presidency.”
The Obama administration has indicated since the beginning of the year that it saw a legitimate role for the group in Egyptian politics. On Jan. 31, then-White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that a reformed Egyptian government “has to include a whole host of important nonsecular actors that give Egypt a strong chance to continue to be (a) stable and reliable partner.”
Clinton said Thursday that the administration is “continuing the approach of limited contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood that have existed on and off for about five or six years.”
Even so, the group’s rigid ideological views have been a concern to many Israelis and their supporters in the United States, and word of the administration’s plans may cause further unease.
The group has advocated armed resistance against Israel.
U.S. officials have been in contact with Muslim Brotherhood members intermittently in the past but have justified it by saying that the individuals held other important roles, as lawmakers or trade union leaders for example.
In recent months, U.S. officials have been reaching out widely in Egypt, hoping to increase their influence among those likely to assume power in a turmoil-wracked country that remains key to U.S. goals in the region.
In Cairo, Clinton’s comments were widely interpreted as public recognition by the U.S. government of the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence as Egypt’s largest and best-organized political party in the wake of longtime President Hosni Mubarak’s February ouster.
“It’s significant for the U.S. to come out and make such a public statement,” said Mustafa El Labbad, director of the Al Sharq Center for Regional and Strategic Studies in Cairo. “It’s a formal recognition of the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence in Egypt, and a boost for them.”
While Clinton described the administration’s decision as “limited” and a continuation of earlier policy, Labbad said it nonetheless represents an expansion of policy. He said the U.S. apparently will now talk to all factions within the Muslim Brotherhood, not just those members who were elected to Parliament in 2005 while running as independents.
Clinton said it was in U.S. interests to deal with Egyptian parties committed to nonviolent politics.