US delegation meets Khairat al-Shater

A US congressional delegation headed by David Dreier said on Monday that the meeting between the delegation and the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Khairat al-Shater was scheduled before the group's announcement of al-Shater's nomination for Egypt's presidential elections. Dreier said the meeting was "interesting" and the presidential candidate "was talking about his commitment to human rights, women's empowerment and the role of the law". David Dreier stated that the US did not try to influence nominations and that it was up to the Egyptian people to determine the kind of democracy they wanted to apply. The US senator also stressed on that the need to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of two-state solution. The Muslim Brotherhood meanwhile maintained they were committed to the peace treaty with Israel. Dreier added that the relationship between the Brotherhood and Israel was of importance for America and it would remain a point of discussion, saying that al-Shater confirmed his commitment to peace and stability in the region. He stated that the continued US aid for Egypt was not welcomed in the United States. "Taxpayers do not consider sending money overseas a good idea, but I see that the aid is an important part in relations between the two countries", he added. The US representative said in a press conference in Cairo that democracy was not only related to the elections, but to several factors such as political pluralism and the importance of the role of law and human rights, and that such issues were discussed during the meeting. He also stated that there were several things needed for a free trade agreement with Egypt. Dreier indicated that the military council was committed to recognise the outcome of the elections and handing over management of the country to a civilian authority. He explained that he met the head Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi in a meeting several months ago and asked him when he would abandon managing Egypt. Tantawi replied that he was a military man and not a political one. Meanwhile, Gerald Connolly said the US constitution took a lot of time to finally formulate. "The constitution and democracy are means of enabling and assisting the people and we don't have a united constitution in the world as there are other places where experience can be gained from so as to be suitable for the Egyptian situation. The constitutional democracy is to protect people's rights, especially the rights of minorities and that is what the US constitution did...democracy does not mean the rule of majority." The Democrat congress delegation met with al-Shater in the presence of Muslim Brotherhood foreign policy adviser, Essam El-Haddad and Hussein el-Kazaz the advisor of the Renaissance project in the group.