U.S. government to renew 'limited contacts' with Muslim Brotherhood

BY Christine Roberts
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Thursday, June 30th 2011, 1:54 PM

The Obama administration is reaching out to the Muslim Brotherhood, according to Secretary of State Clinton.
She revealed Thursday that America will renew its "limited contacts" with the organization, a move that is likely to anger Israel and its supporters who are uncomfortable with the group's highly conservative version of Islam.
Clinton said during a visit to Budapest that Egypt's upcoming parliamentary elections in September have given the U.S. a new impetus to recognize the country's largest Islamist movement.
The Brotherhood, which boasts a non-violent ideology, was outlawed under the presidency of former U.S.-ally Hosni Mubarak and had no role in the country's legislative bodies.
The U.S. ended communication with the group in 2006 when George W. Bush instituted a policy that authorized U.S. officials to only deal with groups that have members in Parliament.
The group, however, began to play an integral role in Egypt's political sphere when Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising in February.
"We believe, given the changing political landscape in Egypt, that it is in the interests of the United States to engage with all parties that are peaceful and committed to nonviolence that intend to compete for the parliament and the presidency," Clinton said during a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
While the secretary of state stressed that this is not a new policy, the decision is a change from earlier practices as U.S. diplomats will now be able to communicate directly with an Islamist movement that is not represented in parliament.
Isreal has not officially commented on the U.S. policy shift.
Clinton did not say whether the U.S. has already contacted the Brotherhood or how involved the communication will be.
"Now in any of those contacts, prior or future, we will continue to emphasize the importance of and support for democratic principles and especially a commitment to non-violence, respect for minority rights, and the full inclusion of women in any democracy," she said.
The Brotherhood said that it has not yet engaged in "direct contact" with the U.S. government.
"If the U.S. is truly willing to respect our values and support freedom, as it says it does, then we have no problem," Brotherhood spokesman Mahmud Ghozlan told the AFP news agency.
With Wire News Services
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So Israel is on the list of terrorist countries and the American Secretary of State has called the Muslim Brotherhood a non violent organization and has now made contact.

At the rate America is going, how soon will we hear Juden Raus?