Human Rights Watch Chides US over Egypt's Polls--

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2//Islam Online, Qatar Sun., Dec. 4, 2005- Dhul-Qi`dah 2 - 17:00 GMT

http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2005-12/04/article05.shtml



HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CHIDES US OVER EGYPT’S POLLS



CAIRO, December 4, 2004 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A leading international human rights watchdog has blasted the Bush administration's position over intimidation of voters and arrest of opposition activists by Egyptian authorities, saying Washington has made a mockery of its commitment to Mideast democracy.



The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the administration's comments on Egyptian parliamentary elections were "utterly disconnected from the reality of what is happening in Egypt today", Reuters reported on Sunday, December 4.



US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday, December 1, they had not received "any indication that the Egyptian government isn't interested in having peaceful, free and fair elections".



In a letter to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, HRW said the remarks badly served "those many Egyptians who have voted or attempted to vote in the face of this pattern of violence, intimidation and fraud."



"It badly undermines the administration's credibility, including your own, when it speaks of its commitment to democratic freedoms in Egypt and the region," the group said.



Independent monitors have reported the use of thugs hired by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) to intimidate supporters of opposition candidates and voters.

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