President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, one of Washington's closest allies in the Middle East, joined the growing chorus of criticism, saying pictures of the execution were "revolting and barbaric."Violence in Iraq has heightened regional sectarian and ethnic tensions between the mainly Sunni Muslim Arab world and Shi'ites who dominate Iraq and neighboring, non-Arab Iran.
In an interview with Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Mubarak said the timing was "unreasonable" and that he had written to Bush asking him to postpone the execution. The Iraqi government has said the U.S. envoy asked for a two-week delay.
"Then the pictures of the execution were revolting and barbaric, and I am not discussing here whether he deserved it or not. As for the trial, all experts in international law said it was an illegal trial because it was under occupation.
"Also, there was a conspiracy to carry out the execution before the end of the year," Mubarak said.
LSB: “Egypt receives more than $2 billion annually – $1.3 billion in foreign military financing and about $815 million in economic support fund assistance – making it the second largest regular recipient of conventional U.S. military and economic aid, after Israel.” Even with this level of support our “friends” in the Middle East hate us, thanks to GWB. How much more damage to our international reputation can we take?
No comments:
Post a Comment