'US trying to keep Egypt under grip'

Investigative journalist Gareth Porter

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/165538.html

The US will continue efforts to maintain Egypt's collaborations with Washington and Tel Aviv as it is unlikely that the US stops putting pressure on those opposing Israel, a journalist says.

In an interview with Press TV, Gareth Porter said, ''Unless there is a totally surprising decision made in Washington to abandon its regional strategy, which has, for three decades or so, been devoted to unremitting pressure on those states and parties which have opposed Israel and its role in relation to Palestinians, as well as its role in the region," the US will continue to "try to use whatever instruments of power available to it in Egypt to try to keep that country as much as possible on a track that is collaborative with the United States and Israel."

He said US efforts to keep control over Egypt's politics will be a source of tension for the next six months to come following the Egyptian revolution.

“One must assume that the interest of the military regime, particularly one which is headed by the person who was the primary collaborator of the United States' CIA in this rendition program, is going to have a different set of priorities and different set of interests from those of the pro-democracy demonstrators in Egypt,” Porter added.

“Therefore, we are going to see a long period here of very intricate maneuvering between the government headed by the former intelligence chief of Egypt and the forces, which were involved in the pro-democracy demonstrations,” he added.

While Muslims account for the majority of Egypt's population, the West has criticized those amending the Egyptian constitution for refusing to remove Article 2, stating that Islam is the state religion and recognizing the Shariah as the source of law.

Porter said that the US and Israel are interested in “pushing Egypt in a different direction … to fence off Islamic influence, the influence of Islamist parties and particularly the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.”

The issue is not one of simply Egyptian political forces within the country's borders, but “also involve external forces, as well.”