On January 16, President Bush visited Egypt as he wrapped up his Middle East trip. Cairo under President Hosni Mubarak has been one of Washington’s strongest allies in the region, but signs from Bush’s short stop in Sharm el-Sheikh indicate that the relationship is starting to sour.

President Bush spent the night at each of his destinations during his eight-day tour, but he spent less than four hours in Egypt. The chosen venue was not Cairo, the capital, or any other population center for that matter. Instead, planners chose Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort.

“The brevity of the visit and the choice of venue, hundreds of kilometers (miles) from large population centers, suggested that the U.S. and Egyptian governments are wary of putting Bush into contact with many ordinary Egyptians,” Reuters reported (January 16).

“Ordinary Egyptians” were treated to a slew of vituperative editorials surrounding the visit. One newspaper headline read, “The state of Sharm el-Sheikh receives the American butcher,” adding, “Egypt chants, ‘He who destroyed Iraq will tomorrow destroy Warraq,’” referring to a north Cairo suburb (ibid.).

The Muslim Brotherhood, which controls one fifth of parliament, opposed the visit as soon as it was scheduled. One of the group’s leaders, Saad el-Katatny, told protesters the day before Bush arrived, “We have come to express the Egyptian people’s anger at U.S. policy in the region. We reject the visit, which is aimed at … invading Gaza and preventing the return of Palestinian refugees.” Another parliament member told the same demonstrators, “We will accept George Bush only as a war criminal to be arrested and handed over to the International Criminal Court for trial.” On the same day, other protesters waved signs that said, “Bush is the leader of the Axis of Evil” and “Bush is a war criminal. We oppose his contamination of Egyptian territory” (ibid.).

The Reuters report said that Bush angered Arabs by supporting Israel’s request for recognition as a Jewish state. Most Arab governments deny the nation’s right to exist.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the American president’s aim was to further his goal of a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, but he lashed out at Israelis, saying they were to blame for a recent development that has further embittered Egyptian-U.S. cooperation.

The U.S. provides Egypt with Washington’s second-largest aid package after Israel: $2 billion, $1.3 billion of it in military assistance. But last month Congress and the president signed into law a bill that withholds $100 million until Egypt puts a stop to terrorists smuggling weapons into Gaza using tunnels between there and Egypt. Israel has also had trouble with Egypt abruptly disregarding an agreement between the two nations over securing the Gaza crossing, allowing more than 2,000 Hamas-led pilgrims to cross, believed to be carrying more than $150 million donated by Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. Reports also indicate Egypt permitted 300 Palestinian terrorists in its custody to mix in with the returnees.

Washington is also putting pressure on Mubarak’s regime to give up some of its undemocratic strong-arm tactics, which has chafed at the ruler and prompted him to speak in more defiant tones against “foreign pressure” from America.

If Washington’s 30-year-old cash-for-stability relationship with Cairo, historically a Middle East mediator, expires altogether, the U.S. will lose one of the few stabilizing influences it has in the area. Whether Mubarak breaks away immediately or not, other factors including the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise and Islamist terrorists’ penchant for murdering leaders it doesn’t appreciate, could turn one of Washington’s last few friends in the region into one of its many enemies.

For more on this subject, read “Egypt-Iran Alliance Prophesied,” by editor in chief Gerald Flurry.