On route to her visit to Egypt, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice strongly criticized a proposed package of constitutional amendments that will be voted on in a referendum in Egypt on Monday. One of them, aimed at the Muslim Brotherhood, bans political parties based on religious denomination. (See prior posting.) The Associated Press reports that in a nationally televised speech on Saturday, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak defended the amendments. He said that history had taught him "the dangers of mixing religion with politics," and that the amendments would cut off those "attempting to strike at the unity of this nation's Muslims and Christians." AP reports on Sunday indicate that Secretary Rice raised her concerns directly in her opening talks with Mubarak.
UPDATE: On Tuesday Egypt announced that the voters had approved the 34 proposed constitutional amendments by a vote of 75.9% in favor. It said that turnout in Monday's referendum was 27%, but the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights says the turnout was much lower than that. (AP).
