In what many are interpreting as a not-so-veiled insult, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement urging the US to “exercise restraint” while dealing with violent protests in Ferguson, Missouri. The statement is not only insulting, but also ironic, as it echoes the language used by the US towards Egypt during its own crackdown on violent Islamic protests last year.
Observers are unsure why the Egyptians, who generally do not criticize one of their most important sponsors, would choose to make such a biting statement.
In the wake of the hard-line crackdown on protestors last year in which hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members were gunned down by Egyptian forces, relations between the US and Egypt became strained. The protestors were demonstrating against the forced ouster by the Egyptian army of democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood member President Mohamed Mursi in July, 2013.
Western countries remain suspicious of Mursi’s replacement, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief who ousted Mursi and then won the votes he needed to become president. Despite the US discomfort with al-Sisi they have continued to provide monetary and military support to the regime.
The statement released by Egypt came after protests denouncing the shooting of an unarmed black teen by a white policeman in Ferguson, Missouri became increasing violent and out of control. The statement made was uncomfortably close to a statement issued by the US in July 2013 in which the White House “urged security forces to exercise maximum restraint and caution” in dealing with protests by Mursi supporters. Egypt even added that the foreign ministry was “closely following the escalation of protests” in Ferguson.