Egypt plays down Pearl's description of it as a dictatorship

Statement by pro- Israel, Richard Pearl, describing Egypt as a dictartoship, were considered as baseless by Egyptian circles.

These circles ruled out that this tone, which has been repeated frequently, will affect the march of American- Egyptian relations, especially with the timing of these remarks, as they come a short time before the visit the Egyptian president intends to make to Washington.

Egyptian deputy former minister, Abdullah al-Asha'al, said that the new thing in Pearl's statements is the timing, and the critical tone, in an attempt to distort Egyptian- American relations, and undermine the objectives of President Mubarak's forthcoming visit to Washington, in a way that serves the interests of Israel.

al-Asha'al said that the Egyptian reply has to be wise, and to embark on practical measures, in order to refute these allegations.

Pearl's statements, a member in the higher council for Pentagon's policies, came during a seminar held in the American Enterprise Institute, in which he explained the traits of the forthcoming American policy, to achieve victory over what he called terrorism.

Pearl also demanded the American administration take a tough line in dealing with Saudi Arabia, which he accused of financing terrorists. He said that the American government failed in estimating the great danger reflected by the Saudi support, for what he called terrorists, despite the fact that it was known about the millions of Saudi dollars sent to religious institutes in the US and other places.

He called for collaboration with moderates in Iran, in order to get rid off the ruling system in it. He also doubted the Libyan intentions to get rid off the weapons of mass destruction.