WASHINGTON - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit disputed US President George W. Bush's contention that democracy is catching on in the Middle East, in an interview published Thursday by The Washington Post.
"What model are we talking about in Iraq? Bombs are exploding everywhere, and Iraqis are killed every day in the streets," Aboul Gheit said. "Palestinian elections? There were elections seven years prior."
The Egyptian official was reacting to Bush's speech Tuesday at the US National Defense University near hear in which he spoke of a "thaw" melting authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and cited the recent Iraqi and Palestinian elections and anti-Syrian demonstrations in Lebanon as examples that democracy was on the march in the region.
Referring to Syria, Aboul Gheit countered Bush's comments by noting Tuesday's pro-Syrian demonstration mounted by Hezbollah. The rally, he said, showed that "there are other trends in society," and warned that US pressure could lead to chaos in Lebanon.
"Maybe things will get better, but we see what we see," he said.
Aboul Gheit also criticized Bush's suggestion that Egypt should keep pace with democratic reforms in the region, and expressed irritation at reports that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice canceled a trip to Egypt because of its slow pace of reform.
In the "so-called democratic endeavor, the pace will be set by Egypt and the Egyptian people and only the Egyptian people," he said. "The Egyptian people will not accept what we call trusteeship.
"I think Egypt is a lighthouse for the Middle East. The need for Egypt to be a friend of the United States is something I'm sure people in Washington value very much. We are not subject to any kind of pressure."
03/10/2005 07:25 GMT