Rice Cancels Egypt Trip as Rift Grows Over Reform

Egypt, one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid, has also been pressured by members of Congress. When Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit visited Washington this month, he was told by Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House International Relations Committee, and Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo), the ranking Democrat, that Egypt was not moving fast enough on reform.

"To say they were frank is an understatement," a House leadership aide said.

Schiff last week introduced a resolution deploring Nour's arrest and calling on Rice to reconsider attending the Cairo conference.

Told of Rice's postponement of her upcoming visit, Tom Malinowski, Washington director of Human Rights Watch, said: "Good. That's putting her money where her mouth is, and I'm sure that will make an impression on the Egyptians."

Egyptian officials could not be reached Friday for comment.

In an interview this week, Egypt's ambassador to the U.S., Nabil Fahmy, said he believed that the U.S.-Egyptian relationship would remain strong. But he said he was concerned that the administration's criticism of Egypt was hurting Americans' view of his country, as well as Egyptians' view of the U.S. government.

"In Egypt, the effect has not been useful. People don't like interference by anybody," he said.

Amr Hamzawy, an Egyptian political scientist now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, said that although the Nour case had been the focus of international attention, interest in reform had been spreading within Egypt and elsewhere in the region. He cited small but growing Egyptian demonstrations, Palestinians' recent election of a president and Lebanese protests against Syrian influence.

Times staff writer Sonni Efron in Washington contributed to this report.