CAIRO — Egypt's top general Sunday raised the stakes in the military's political standoff with the Muslim Brotherhood, saying the armed forces will not allow a “certain group” to dominate the country. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi's tough comments came only hours after he met with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who urged him to work with President Mohammed Morsi, of the Brotherhood, on a full transition to civilian rule. The military, which ruled after the fall last year of Hosni Mubarak, and the Brotherhood, the country's strongest political force, are in a competition over power that has intensified with Morsi's winning of the presidency last month. Days before Morsi was sworn in on June 30, the Brotherhood-led parliament was dissolved and the generals gave themselves legislative and budgetary authority and control over the process of drafting a new constitution, put severe limits on the president's authority. In his comments Sunday, Tantawi did not specify the Brotherhood, but his reference that the military would not allow the group to hold sway was clear. “Egypt will never fall. It belongs to all Egyptians and not to a certain group — the armed forces will not allow it,” Tantawi told reporters after a handover ceremony for the transfer of command of the armed forces' 2nd Army in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia. “The armed forces will not allow anyone, especially those pushed from outside, to distract it from its role as the protector of Egypt,” he said. “The army will never commit treason and will continue to perform its duties until Egypt reaches the shores of safety.” Tantawi, Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years, is the most senior of the generals who took power after Mubarak's ouster 17 months ago. In meetings Saturday with Morsi and on Sunday with Tantawi, Clinton said the US wanted the two sides to work together to bring a full civilian democratic rule. Without taking a position in disputes over parliament or how to draft a new constitution, Clinton urged the military chief to return the armed forces to a “purely national security role,” as she termed it Saturday. On Sunday, Clinton said that resolving the impasse “requires dialogue and compromise, real politics.” The US, she added, is doing all it can to “support the democratically elected government and to help make it a success in delivering results for the people of Egypt.” Seventeen months after the street demonstrations that ousted Mubarak, the United States is left without a friend and with little influence among a host of old and new political actors who can't seem to chart a mutual path forward. Calling for compromise and consensus after her first ever meeting with Morsi, Clinton staked out a middle ground in the dispute. The United States is in a difficult spot, eager to be seen as a champion of democracy and human rights after three decades of close cooperation with Mubarak despite his abysmal record in advancing either. This has involved some uncomfortable changes, including occasionally harsh criticism of America's once faithful partners in the Egyptian military and words of support for Islamist parties far more skeptical of US motivations for Egypt and the region. — Agencies
