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Alle Welt freut sich - und die westlichen Politiker tun so, als freuten sie sich am meisten

Reaktionen auf den Rücktritt Mubaraks: Von Obama bis Merkel, von Russland bis Jordanien


Mit Erleichterung wurde die Nachricht vom Rücktritt Mubaraks in aller Welt aufgenommen. Am blumigsten äußerte sich US-Präsident Obama über den "change" in Ägypten; das Land werde nie wieder so sein wie es war. Und er fordert, dass im Demokratisierungsprozess "alle Stimmen" des Volkes auf den Tisch gelegt werden müssten. (Obamas Ansprache dokumentieren wir im Wortlaut.)
Ob die Muslimbruderschaft dazu gehören soll, bleibt indessen in der innenpolitischen Debatte der USA umstritten. Vor wenigen Tagen fand eine Debatte in einem Kongressausschuss statt, in der Tacheles geredet wurde. Die Muslimbrüderschaft sei gefährlich, so äußerte sich etwa der FBI-Direktor Robert Mueller, weil sie eine Ideologie verbreite, die Terroristen zu Anschlägen anstifte. (Ein Bericht über die Debatte befindet sich am Ende dieser Seite: FBI Chief: Muslim Brotherhood Supports Terrorism.
Aus den vielen Reaktionen ragt der Leitartikel der halbamtlichen Zeitung "China Daily" heraus. Dort wird unmissverständlich darauf hingewiesen, dass die Entwicklung in Ägypten ausschließlich eine "innere Angelegenheit" des Landes sei. Die Probleme Ägyptens müsste ohne jegliche Einmischung von außen gelöst werden.

Des Weiteren dokumentieren wir:

US-Präsident Obama

 Remarks by the President on Egypt: Good afternoon, everybody. There are very few moments in our lives where we have the privilege to witness history taking place. This is one of those moments. This is one of those times. The people of Egypt have spoken, their voices have been heard, and Egypt will never be the same.

By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian people’s hunger for change. But this is not the end of Egypt’s transition. It’s a beginning. I’m sure there will be difficult days ahead, and many questions remain unanswered. But I am confident that the people of Egypt can find the answers, and do so peacefully, constructively, and in the spirit of unity that has defined these last few weeks. For Egyptians have made it clear that nothing less than genuine democracy will carry the day.

The military has served patriotically and responsibly as a caretaker to the state, and will now have to ensure a transition that is credible in the eyes of the Egyptian people. That means protecting the rights of Egypt’s citizens, lifting the emergency law, revising the constitution and other laws to make this change irreversible, and laying out a clear path to elections that are fair and free. Above all, this transition must bring all of Egypt’s voices to the table. For the spirit of peaceful protest and perseverance that the Egyptian people have shown can serve as a powerful wind at the back of this change.

The United States will continue to be a friend and partner to Egypt. We stand ready to provide whatever assistance is necessary -- and asked for -- to pursue a credible transition to a democracy. I’m also confident that the same ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that the young people of Egypt have shown in recent days can be harnessed to create new opportunity -- jobs and businesses that allow the extraordinary potential of this generation to take flight. And I know that a democratic Egypt can advance its role of responsible leadership not only in the region but around the world.

Egypt has played a pivotal role in human history for over 6,000 years. But over the last few weeks, the wheel of history turned at a blinding pace as the Egyptian people demanded their universal rights.

We saw mothers and fathers carrying their children on their shoulders to show them what true freedom might look like.

We saw a young Egyptian say, “For the first time in my life, I really count. My voice is heard. Even though I’m only one person, this is the way real democracy works.”

We saw protesters chant “Selmiyya, selmiyya” -- “We are peaceful” -- again and again.

We saw a military that would not fire bullets at the people they were sworn to protect.

And we saw doctors and nurses rushing into the streets to care for those who were wounded, volunteers checking protesters to ensure that they were unarmed.

We saw people of faith praying together and chanting – “Muslims, Christians, We are one.” And though we know that the strains between faiths still divide too many in this world and no single event will close that chasm immediately, these scenes remind us that we need not be defined by our differences. We can be defined by the common humanity that we share.

And above all, we saw a new generation emerge -- a generation that uses their own creativity and talent and technology to call for a government that represented their hopes and not their fears; a government that is responsive to their boundless aspirations. One Egyptian put it simply: Most people have discovered in the last few days…that they are worth something, and this cannot be taken away from them anymore, ever.

This is the power of human dignity, and it can never be denied. Egyptians have inspired us, and they’ve done so by putting the lie to the idea that justice is best gained through violence. For in Egypt, it was the moral force of nonviolence -- not terrorism, not mindless killing -- but nonviolence, moral force that bent the arc of history toward justice once more.

And while the sights and sounds that we heard were entirely Egyptian, we can’t help but hear the echoes of history -- echoes from Germans tearing down a wall, Indonesian students taking to the streets, Gandhi leading his people down the path of justice.

As Martin Luther King said in celebrating the birth of a new nation in Ghana while trying to perfect his own, “There is something in the soul that cries out for freedom.” Those were the cries that came from Tahrir Square, and the entire world has taken note.

Today belongs to the people of Egypt, and the American people are moved by these scenes in Cairo and across Egypt because of who we are as a people and the kind of world that we want our children to grow up in.

The word Tahrir means liberation. It is a word that speaks to that something in our souls that cries out for freedom. And forevermore it will remind us of the Egyptian people -- of what they did, of the things that they stood for, and how they changed their country, and in doing so changed the world.

Thank you.

* Website des Weißen Hauses, 11. Februar 2011; www.whitehouse.gov


Pressestatement von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel zur Lage in Ägypten

 Mitschrift Pressekonferenz, Fr, 11.02.2011 in Berlin **

BK'IN MERKEL: Meine Damen und Herren, heute ist ein Tag großer Freude. Wir sind alle Zeugen eines historischen Wandels, und ich freue mich mit den Menschen in Ägypten, mit den Millionen Menschen auf den Straßen. In ihren Augen kann man sehen, welche Kraft die Freiheit entfalten kann. Und ich wünsche den Menschen auf dem weiteren Weg in eine neue, veränderte Gesellschaft den Mut, den sie schon in den letzten Tagen bewiesen haben. Ich wünsche ihnen vor allen Dingen eine Gesellschaft, die ohne Korruption, ohne Zensur, ohne Verhaftung und Folter sein wird. Und ich fordere von denen, die jetzt die Verantwortung tragen und die sie tragen werden, dass sie die Entwicklung in Ägypten unumkehrbar machen, dass sie diese Entwicklung friedlich gestalten. Die berechtigten Forderungen der Menschen, die in den letzten Tagen geäußert wurden, müssen mit wirklicher Kraft umgesetzt werden.

Meine Damen und Herren, wir werden in Deutschland die Entwicklung in Ägypten, die berechtigten Wünsche der Menschen nach unseren Kräften unterstützen. Wir glauben, dass es notwendig ist, dass diese Entwicklung wirklich unumkehrbar ist und dass sie in ein freieres Ägypten mündet. Am Ende dieser Entwicklung müssen freie Wahlen stehen. Präsident Mubarak hat mit seinem Rücktritt heute dem ägyptischen Volk einen letzten Dienst erwiesen. Wir erwarten auch von zukünftigen ägyptischen Regierungen, dass sie den Frieden im Nahen Osten so weiterführen, dass die Verträge, die mit Israel geschlossen wurden, eingehalten werden und dass die Sicherheit Israels garantiert wird.

Herzlichen Dank!

** Website der Bundesregierung, 11. Februar 2011; www.bundesregierung.de


Statement by NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen on events in Egypt

 I welcome President Mubarak's decision. I have consistently called for a speedy, orderly and peaceful transition to democracy, respecting the legitimate aspirations of the people of Egypt.

In the long run, no society can neglect the will of the people. Democracy means much more than majority rule -- it also means respect for individual freedom, for minorities, human rights and the rule of law. These are the values on which our Alliance is based and the values we encourage our partners to respect. Egypt is a valued partner in our Mediterranean Dialogue and a pivotal country in the region. I am confident Egypt will continue to be a force for stability and security.

Quelle: NATO-Newsletter, 12. Februar 2011


Medwedew rechnet mit schneller Wiederherstellung demokratischer Prozesse in Ägypten ***

 Das geht aus einer am Samstag (12. Feb.) in Moskau vom Pressedienst des Kremls veröffentlichten Erklärung des russischen Präsidenten Dmitri Medwedew hervor. Dafür sollten alle legitimen Wahlprozeduren genutzt werden. "Wichtig ist, dass religiöser Frieden und Eintracht in Ägypten erhalten bleiben", betonte der russische Staatschef.

"Ein starkes und demokratisches Ägypten spielt eine große Rolle im Nahost-Friedensprozess… Moskau bekräftigt seine Bereitschaft, diesen Prozess auch in Zukunft zu fördern. Unser Land und Ägypten sind durch eine langjährige Geschichte der Beziehungen der strategischen Partnerschaft verbunden. Wir haben politische, ökonomische und humanitäre Kontakte gefördert und hoffen auch auf ihre weitere Entwicklung", heißt es in Medwedews Erklärung.

*** Russische Nachrichtenagentur RIA Novosti, 12. Februar 2011; http://de.rian.ru


Restore stability in Egypt

 The eyes of the world are now on Egypt. After 18 days of mass demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of Egyptian youths, Hosni Mubarak resigned his presidency and handed command of the country to the military. As Mr Mubarak left Cairo for his home in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, protesters responded to the news of his departure by cheering, waving flags, embracing and sounding car horns.

The protests throughout cities in the Arab state has been causing havoc and disrupting people's daily lives. Following this extraordinary development, it is hoped that the Egyptian military, government and its people will make every effort to maintain social stability and restore normal order.

It is believed Egypt has the wisdom and capacity to find proper solutions to overcome the current crisis. Social stability should be of overriding importance. Any political changes will be meaningless if the country falls prey to chaos in the end.

Given Egypt's status as a major Arab power of pivotal strategic importance, if the current situation continues to deteriorate, it will not only be nightmarish for the 80 million Egyptians, but also perilous to regional peace and stability.

The upheavals in Egypt have drawn international concern about the impact on the Middle East peace process. As a major country in the Arab world and in Africa, Egypt's stability concerns peace and stability in the whole region.

With the peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis mired in stalemate, developments in Egypt could alter the peace process positively or negatively.

However, what is happening in Egypt is an internal affair. It should be resolved without foreign interference. Foreign intervention would not serve the interests of the Egyptian people, it would merely expand foreign influence and interests in the African country.

Rising food prices and the unemployment rate amid slow recovery from economic crisis are believed to be among the major culprits that caused the ongoing social upheavals in Egypt, and according to a report released last week by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), upward pressure on world food prices shows no signs of abating and is likely to persist in the months to come.

It is developing countries, especially low-income countries that are bearing the brunt of high food prices and globally loose monetary stance. The looming food crisis could trigger political instability that would in turn bring more suffering to the people.

China Daily, 2011-02-12, www.chinadaily.com.cn


Weitere Reaktionen ****

 Der Rücktritt des ägyptischen Präsidenten Hosni Mubarak ist weltweit auf ein positives Echo gestoßen, stellt tagesschau.de fest.

In Kairo war der Jubel am größten. So kommentierte der ägyptische Oppositionspolitiker und Friedensnobelpreisträger Mohammed ElBaradei den Rücktritt mit den Worten: "Das ist der schönste Tag meines Lebens." Man habe Jahrzehnte auf diesen Tag gewartet und freue sich darauf, zusammen mit der Armee freie und faire Wahlen vorzubereiten.

Als "historisch" bezeichnete Essam Erian von der Muslimbruderschaft den Tag des Mubarak-Rücktritts. Der Ball liege nun im Feld des Militärrats.

"Gewonnen, gewonnen", twitterte der durch die Proteste bekannt gewordene ägyptische Blogger "Sandmonkey". Ebenfalls über Twitter äußerte sich der für die Opposition aktive und zeitweilig festgenommene Google-Manager Wael Ghonim: "Liebe westlichen Regierungen, 30 Jahre lang habt ihr still das Regime unterstützt, das uns unterdrückt hat. Mischt euch bitte jetzt nicht ein." Die wahren Helden seien die jungen Demonstranten auf dem Tahrir-Platz und anderswo in Ägypten gewesen.

Unterdessen deutete der Generalsekretär der Arabischen Liga, der Ägypter Amr Mussa, an, seinen Posten "innerhalb der kommenden Wochen" aufzugeben, melden der Fernsehsender Al Dschasira und die staatliche Nachrichtenagentur übereinstimmend. Der ehemalige ägyptische Außenminister wird als möglicher Kandidat für das Präsidentenamt gehandelt. Mussa hat sich zu seinen möglichen politischen Ambitionen bislang nur ausweichend geäußert.
Amr Muss sieht die Zukunft seines Heimatlandes positiv: "Ich bin optimistisch, dass wir den richtigen Weg für Ägypten und das ägyptische Volk einschlagen werden." Der Abgang Mubaraks bedeute, "dass wir erreicht haben, was das Volk gefordert hat".

Die Regierung der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate erklärte, sie vertraute darauf, dass der ägyptische Militärrat das Land so lenken werde, dass die Hoffnungen des ägyptischen Volkes erfüllt würden. Ähnlich äußerte sich nach Angaben der staatlichen Nachrichtenagentur die jordanische Regierung.

In Brüssel bot die EU-Außenbeauftragte Catherine Ashton Ägypten Hilfe für einen friedlichen Übergang an. Man stehe hinter der Bevölkerung, die freie und faire Wahlen gefordert habe. Nun müssten Gespräche geführt werden, um die Bildung einer Regierung auf breiter politischer Basis zu ermöglichen. Zugleich äußerte Ashton Respekt für die Entscheidung Mubaraks, der am Donnerstag noch seinen Rücktritt ausgeschlossen hatte.

Ein Sprecher der Hamas im Gaza-Streifen sprach vom "Beginn des Sieges in der ägyptischen Revolution". Dieser sei das Ergebnis der Opferbereitschaft und der Standhaftigkeit des ägyptischen Volkes. Er forderte von neuen ägyptischen Führung, sofort die Blockade des Gaza-Streifens aufzuheben.

**** www.tagesschau.de, 12. Februar 2011


FBI Chief: Muslim Brotherhood Supports Terrorism *****

 Elements of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group whose ideology has inspired terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, are in the United States and have supported terrorism here and overseas, FBI Director Robert Mueller told a House committee Thursday.

Mueller joined seven other Obama administration intelligence and law enforcement officials at a hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. They spoke of the Brotherhood's U.S. ties as word spread in Egypt that President Hosni Mubarak was prepared to resign. Mubarak has repeatedly said his administration, in place since 1981, is the one thing keeping an Islamic state led by the Brotherhood from taking over Egypt.

While Mueller, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and other witnesses spelled out a variety of threats, they and some committee members highlighted the Brotherhood's ties in the United States. It was a significant departure from earlier hearings, which focused on groups more directly involved with terrorism.

"I'm concerned that the Muslim Brotherhood is using peaceful protests in Egypt for a power grab, and our government doesn't seem to grasp their threat," Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., told the committee and the witnesses. "The Muslim Brotherhood isn't a danger because they are terrorists, but because they push an extremist ideology that causes others to commit acts of terrorism."

Clapper agreed that "there are entities associated with the Muslim Brotherhood here in the United States." Mueller told Myrick that he would provide the committee with greater detail on the Brotherhood's activities in closed session.

However, Clapper also characterized the Brotherhood in Egypt as a mostly secular umbrella organization. "The term 'Muslim Brotherhood'...is an umbrella term for a variety of movements, in the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried Al Qaeda as a perversion of Islam," Clapper said in response to a question from Myrick. "They have pursued social ends, a betterment of the political order in Egypt, et cetera.....In other countries, there are also chapters or franchises of the Muslim Brotherhood, but there is no overarching agenda, particularly in pursuit of violence, at least internationally."

Clapper's "secular" reference is odd, given the Brotherhood's motto is "Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope."

In a statement issued after the hearing, Myrick expressed astonishment at Clapper's assessment. ""Either the Administration doesn't know who the Muslim Brotherhood is, which shows incompetence," she said, "or they are apologizing for them, which is inappropriate for those in charge of protecting the American people. Let's be clear – the Muslim Brotherhood is NOT secular."

During the hearing, Myrick said she was also concerned about the Brotherhood's attitudes toward government. "The danger of the Muslim Brotherhood is not just encouraging terrorism through their ideology, but also trying to take over government, so everyone has to succumb and live under their ideology," Myrick said.

The scope of the Brotherhood's vision for the United States was spelled out in a 1991 document called the "Explanatory Memorandum." In that memo, which federal prosecutors introduced as evidence in two trials of the now-defunct Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, Brotherhood leaders said they planned to create an Islamic state in the United States.

In that document, the Brotherhood's stated goal was "a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions."

The memo also listed 29 organizations working in the United States to further the Brotherhood's goals. They include the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim Students Association (MSA), the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) and the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP). The IAP and the Holy Land Foundation shared many members and directors, including those who founded the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Clapper told the committee the U.S. government has no relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood in America. However, In response to a question from Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., Mueller said "we do not have a relationship with CAIR," although some FBI officials have attended the same events as CAIR representatives. The FBI suspended formal ties with CAIR in 2009, citing CAIR's ties with Hamas, the Middle Eastern terrorist group that controls the government in Gaza, and the ties of some CAIR leaders with Hamas front groups.

Much of the evidence tying CAIR to Hamas, another offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, was presented during the two trials of the Holy Land Foundation. Five HLF officials were convicted in 2008 of illegally sending millions of dollars to Hamas.

Much of the hearing testimony focused on the threat still posed by al-Qaida, the Islamist terrorist group responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born cleric who now leads al-Qaida unit based in Yemen, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has become perhaps the greatest threat, Clapper said.

While AQAP has primarily focused on attacks in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, Clapper said, "it is increasingly devoted to directing and inspiring attacks on the U.S. Homeland and other targets in the West, as well as Western interests in Yemen."

Other witnesses were CIA Director Leon Panetta, Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center; Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; Caryn A. Wagner, under secretary for intelligence and analysis, Department of Homeland Security; Thomas A. Ferguson, principal deputy under secretary of Defense for intelligence; and Philip S. Goldberg, assistant secretary of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

***** Quelle: IPT The Investigative Project on Terrorism, February 10, 2011; www.investigativeproject.org


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