U.S. presses Cairo on political reforms

Cairo is habitually engaged in violent intimidation of political activists and members of the press, a U.S. resolution under consideration states.
Washington reacted harshly to an Egyptian decision this year to extend certain provisions of an emergency law enacted in 1981 after the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
A resolution under consideration by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee blasts Cairo for the lack of political freedom, The Washington Post reports.
“Authorities in Egypt continue to harass, intimidate, arbitrarily detain and engage in violence against peaceful demonstrators, journalists, human rights activists and bloggers,” the resolution reads.
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., helped write the measure under consideration in the committee. Feingold in a May letter to U.S. President Barack Obama lashed out at Cairo for the decision to extend emergency laws.
“Emergency laws, if they are ever appropriate, are intended for exceptional circumstances, not continuous application for decades,” said Feingold in May.
Obama last week met with 82-year-old Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Washington as part of an effort to kick-start the stalled Middle East peace process. A White House read out of the meeting between the two leaders said Obama pressed Mubarak on the need for “credible and transparent elections in Egypt,” the Post added.
Cairo has parliamentary elections later this year and presidential elections in 2011. Mubarak, who has been president since 1981, hasn’t made his campaign intentions known publicly.