Muslim Brotherhood loses Egypt elections, US criticizes

Posted on December 1, 2010
by creepingsharia

A casual observer might suspect that the Obama administration actually wanted the Muslim Brotherhood candidates to be victorious.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Monday raised serious questions about the fairness of Egypt’s weekend parliamentary elections, saying it was disappointed by widespread reports of irregularities that cast doubt on the credibility of the polls in the strong U.S. ally.

The State Department said it had closely followed the campaign and Sunday’s polling and was concerned by arrests and intimidation of opposition supporters, denial of media access to opposition candidates and Egypt’s refusal to allow international monitors to observe the vote.

“These irregularities call into question the fairness and transparency of the process,” spokesman P.J. Crowley said in a statement.

Earlier Monday, protesters set fire to cars, tires and two polling stations and clashed with police firing tear gas in riots over allegations that Egypt’s ruling party committed widespread fraud to sweep the elections. Though official results are not due until Tuesday, opposition supporters around the country took to the streets in anger after hearing word their favorites lost amid allegations of massive vote-rigging.

Egypt is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East and receives billions of dollars a year in U.S. assistance.

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Egypt had already angrily rejected U.S. criticism of its refusal to allow foreign monitors to observe the polls, accusing Washington of interfering in its internal affairs.

Billions of dollars for what? via US criticizes Mideast ally Egypt’s elections – News – Politics – bnd.com.

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