John Kerry Snubbed By Egypt's Heavy Jail Sentences For al-Jazeera Journalists -- Simon Tisdall, The Guardian
Cairo's decision to impose seven-year sentences has weakened Kerry after he interceded on the journalists' behalf
Egypt's military-dominated government has delivered a humiliating, public slap in the face to John Kerry, the US secretary of state, by sentencing three al-Jazeera journalists to long prison terms only hours after Kerry personally expressed his deep concern about the case in high-level meetings in Cairo. The snub represents a disastrous beginning to Kerry's already fraught Middle East tour, which took him to Baghdad on Monday for crisis talks about the Islamist extremist uprising.
The verdict, by a court responsive to government wishes, will also be seen as a deliberate, crude signal to President Barack Obama, who criticised Egypt's deteriorating human rights record after the former general, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, seized power in a coup last year. Sisi has since had himself voted president. His elected predecessor, Mohammed Morsi, and thousands of his Muslim Brotherhood supporters remain in jail while hundreds of others have been killed.
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My Comment: After US Secretary of State Kerry announced that the U.S. wants to contribute to the success of Egypt" by unlocking US military aid to the Egyptian government .... even hoping that Egypt will get it's Apache gunships soon .... an Egyptian court sentences three Al Jazeera reporters to a long prison sentence. Not surprising .... John Kerry's phone call voicing his displeasure followed a few hours later .... with the Egyptian government essentially not paying attention to it.
If this is how one run's foreign policy .... (fill in the blank).
1 comment:
Worried about journalist in Egypt but hasn't lifted a finger for the Marine in mexico.....Tells us alot about how they feel about their own!!!
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