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U.S. concerned by reports of abuse of Egyptian protesters

¶   WASHINGTON (AP) _ The U.S. State Department said Thursday it was
deeplyconcerned about reports that Egyptian authorities arrested and
represseddemonstrators protesting alleged election fraud.

¶   "Particularly troubling are reports of Egyptian police tactics
against demonstrators and journalists covering the event that left many injured,"

spokesman Sean McCormack said after thousands of riot police broke up
pro-reform protests in Cairo.

¶   The protests were in support of two Egyptian judges facing
disciplinary action after they blew the whistle on election fraud.

¶   McCormack coupled the U.S. government's concern with a warning that "we will be following up with the Egyptian government regarding our concerns and we will continue to push for political reform and freedom of speech  and press."

¶   The U.S. friendship with Egypt is rooted in the landmark Egyptian
peace treaty with Israel in 1979, which triggered U.S. gratitude of about $2 billion (euro1.57 billion) dollars in aid every year.

¶   The treaty cracked a solid anti-Israel front among the Arabs and
sparked more widespread peacemaking in the region.

¶   As the Bush administration pushes its democracy program in the
Middle East and often comes in conflict with fundamentalist Muslim
governments, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak stands out as pro-U.S. in his attitude and behavior.

¶   But the Egyptian government has taken a tough stance against
pro-democracy activists who have rallied around the judges and accuse
Mubarak of retreating from promised reforms. In recent weeks, 48
activists have been arrested during demonstrations to support the judges.

¶   McCormack said the U.S. government was also troubled by reports
that
detention of many of those arrested has been extended and new charges
were filed against them.

¶   "We urge the Egyptian government to permit peaceful demonstrations
on behalf of reform and civil liberties by those exercising their rights to freedom of assembly and expression," he said.

¶   McCormack made it clear that it is not U.S. policy to tell Egypt
what kind of political course to take. "The issue here," he said, "is
whether or not people can peacefully protest, express freely their thoughts, their feelings about actions that their government has taken."

¶   On the touchy subject of U.S. aid, the spokesman said the
administration has continued to support Egypt even among rising
criticism among politicians in Washington D.C.

¶   "That said, there are very clearly concerns on the part of our
government, in the executive branch," McCormack said.

¶   Criticizing Mubarak directly, he said the Egyptian president had
not followed through on an election campaign promise last year to take
freedom of expression into consideration while addressing a real threat of terrorism.

¶   "Egypt is a good friend, Egypt is a good ally," he concluded. "We
have a lot of common issues that we are working on together, certainly in fighting terrorism, certainly in trying to bring peace to the Middle East."

¶   But "that said, when there are issues that arise... we are going to speak out ... about them," he said. "That's what friends do."

AP Diplomatic Writer