Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, is a frequent guest on international news programs in discussions of event in Africa, the Middle East and the United States. Azikiwe also hosts a radio program called the Pan-African Journal., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Interview with Abayomi Azikiwe
Tue Aug 6, 2013 7:50AM GMT
To watch this Press TV The Debate program featuring Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, just click on the website below:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/06/317424/us-favors-proisrael-forces-in-egypt/
Press TV has invited Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan African News Wire from Detroit, to its Debate program to discuss the US approach towards the latest developments in the political scene of Egypt after the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi.
What follows is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Mr. Azikiwe would you say that the United States is following a flip-flop policy, as some have said, in Egypt and why do you think?
Azikiwe: They of course have a strategic interest in Egypt, throughout the entire region of North Africa and indeed the Middle East.
Egypt has been a loyal partner of the United States since the late 1970s. The US administration has invested, in fact, billions upon billions of dollars, largely within the military apparatus of Egypt.
They of course have supported the US military adventures in the region, going all the way back to the 1980s and 1990s, through the AWACS program; today in regard to the so-called war on terror.
So they do not want any instability in Egypt. They are willing to support a Muslim Brotherhood government if the government is willing to work on behalf or not to unsettle the strategic interest of the United States.
They will also support a military-backed interim governing council because it reaffirms what has existed in regard to the US-Egyptian relations now for over three and a half decades.
I think that they have no permanent friends only permanent interests in Egypt and this is exemplified by the fact that they have refused to categorize the developments on July 3 as a military coup.
At the same time they are unsettled because the political atmosphere inside the country is still very fluid. There were demonstrations today, there were demonstrations on Friday, there are people being killed almost on a daily basis in Egypt and this does not bode well for the overall image of the United States in regard to their partnership with the Egyptian government.
Press TV: Mr. Azikiwe a lot of concern we were hearing on our Facebook page by viewers about the role that the United States may be playing in terms of intervention there in Egypt’s affairs.
Some analysts have even gone as far as saying that what happened in Egypt was a US-backed coup d’état that this was, actually, a coup that Washington is trying to look impartial about it and that the reason they say, is that the US wanted the military to retain its hold on Egypt and consequently to follow Washington’s policies in the region.
Would you go as far as saying that?
Azikiwe: Yes I would. The fact of the matter is that they have a long-term working relationship with the Egyptian military that goes all the way back until the late 1970s under the former President Anwar Sadat. Of course the Camp David peace accords that went into effect in 1979 caused a lot of consternation throughout the entire region. Many states broke diplomatic relations with Egypt during this time period.
Under Mubarak we had a very similar political relationship between successive US administrations and Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, which in effect, was backed heavily by the military because Mubarak himself came out of the Egyptian military. At the same time they are willing to support other forces inside the country as long as they do not challenge the Camp David Accords, as long as they do not interfere in the overall military, political and economic interests of the United States in the region.
Once you have a coalition in Egypt, that is willing to go against the US’ interest vis-à-vis Israel or its overall strategic outlook throughout the entire Middle East, then of course we will see opposition to governments inside of Egypt but until this occurs, they are willing to work with any government in Egypt as long as they do not interfere with the overall outlook and objectives of the US administration.
Press TV: Mr. Azikiwe, Mr. Reza (other guest of the program from Cairo) was just pointing out there that if the United States wanted the military to have the most power in Egypt it could have done so when the military had power following the 2011 revolution, when Mubarak was ousted. What is your response to that?
Azikiwe: The US realized that the military in Egypt could not rule the country in perpetuity in light of the fact that you had this awakening among the youth and the workers and the intellectuals in Egypt. People did not want military rule during the course of 2011 and 2012 after the removal of Hosni Mubarak.
Of course many people were not satisfied with the candidacy of Ahmed Shafiq during the 2012 runoff elections or with the Freedom and Justice Party candidate Mohamed Morsi, who was eventually designated as the winner of the June 2012 elections.
Many of the young revolutionaries did not even participate in the electoral process because they were not satisfied with the vetting that took place which screened candidates in regard to their eligibility for political office and this of course was controlled by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
So if we look at the entire process that developed after the February 2011 removal of Hosni Mubarak from office, it was controlled largely by the Egyptian military; the electoral commission was appointed by them and of course even after the election of President Morsi he did not have their support. They did not go along with many of the decisions that he made and in fact on July 3 they completely refused to obey his orders, usurped his authority and are now holding him in detention at an undisclosed location.
There has been many diplomatic delegations that have come into Egypt, the African Union sent one delegation last week, headed by former Malian President Alpha Konare and former Botswana President Festus Mogae. They met both with the military leadership as well as President Morsi who was in detention. They have suspended Egypt pending the outcome of this political crisis inside the country.
The European Union has also sent delegations as well and of course we have one today from the US Senate with Lindsey Graham and John McCain.
These delegations of course have different approaches to this crisis but all of them want some resolution to this conflict.
Press TV: Mr. Azikiwe, is Egypt, do you think, from this stage on, moving towards a foreign policy that for instance is against Israel and the Zionist policies, etc.? Or is moving toward an economy that would benefit the nation, what people have been criticizing about Morsi’s government.
Azikiwe: Egypt cannot move against US interests which include a separate peace treaty with the state of Israel as long as it is dependent upon the economic, political, diplomatic, as well as military support of the White House and the Pentagon. They have a tremendous amount of resources invested in Egypt and once Egypt breaks with the foreign policy imperatives of Washington aid would be suspended. Military equipment that has been transferred now for decades from the United States to Egypt will be halted and there will be efforts by the United States to interfere, to even a greater degree, in the internal affairs of the state of Egypt and we have seen this repeatedly throughout Africa and throughout the Middle East.
In Syria today, the intervention there, is based upon the fact that the Syrian government takes an independent stance in regard to the US foreign policy. The same situation has existed in relationship to Iran as well as other nations.
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