US trying to contain growing policy rift with Egypt
US-Egyptian relations have deteriorated lately, due to the fact that the US policies in the Middle East region serve the interests of Israel in a biased way. The crisis was covert but the Egyptian President started to explode it while meeting with the Egyptian armed forces when he openly declared his displeasure with the stances of Egypt's "US friend."
Mubarak said that the US pressure on Egypt through accusing it of being involved in the disappearance of the Libyan dissident Al Kekhya and of being responsible for obstructing reaching an agreement between the Israeli and the Palestinian sides are due to Egypt's stances toward the Israeli intransigence and the case of convicted Israeli spy Azam Azam.
Mubarak also expressed his displeasure toward the US intelligence activities in Egypt like orchestrating the defection of the Korean Ambassador in Cairo. Mubarak did not rule out the possibility that the US intelligence is responsible for the disappearance of Al Kekhya.
The US expressed its surprise at Mubarak's statements and tried to alleviate the tension during phone calls in which it said that the issue of Al Kekhya is no more than press reports.
The US administration did not accuse Egypt officially of anything. On the contrary, it lauded the Egyptian efforts to discover the truth about the disappearance of the Libyan dissident, and it is keen on its good relations with Egypt. Though the US administration condemned terrorism but it did not openly condemn Israel's involvement in the failed attempt to assassinate the head of the political office of the Hamas movement in Jordan, Khaled Mishal. The US Administration declared that such operations will lead to chaos in the region which will lead to more suicidal operations and terrorist attacks.
There is a question now in political circles whether the US will cancel its appointment of Charles Keir as its new ambassador to Egypt after the Egyptian accusations against the CIA, as Keir has been a former prominent figure in the CIA.