News Analysis: Morsi's death sentence unlikely to affect Egypt-West relations: experts

The death sentence recently handed by an Egyptian court against ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi is unlikely to affect the country's improving relations with Western states despite their criticism of the ruling, said Egyptian experts.

On Saturday, Cairo Criminal Court referred Morsi's case to the Mufti for his non-binding Islamic legal opinion on Morsi's execution along with more than 100 other defendants over their role in a mass jailbreak during the 2011 uprising that toppled ex-leader Hosni Mubarak.

The same court sentenced 16 leading members of Morsi's currently-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group to death over an espionage case.

Although the verdict is appealable, it alarmed the United States and the European Union (EU), with which Egypt has been improving relations after they initially rejected Morsi's removal by the military in July 2013 following mass protests against his one-year rule.

U.S., EU ALARMED

"We have consistently spoken out against the practice of mass trials and sentences, which are conducted in a manner that is inconsistent with Egypt's international obligations and rule of law," an unnamed U.S. State Department official was quoted by Western media as saying, adding that his country is "deeply concerned" over the death verdicts.

Similarly, in a statement by top diplomat Frederica Mogherini, the EU described on Sunday the death penalty handed to the former Islamist president and his Muslim Brotherhood affiliates as "cruel and inhumane" and "not in line with Egypt's obligations under international law."

Egypt was "disappointed" in those reactions and considered them "unacceptable intervention in the country's domestic affairs," according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Sunday.

SHARED ANTI-TERRO GOAL

In reaction to Morsi's death sentence, unknown militants in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula shot dead three judges together with their driver only a couple of hours following the announcement of the verdict.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who led Morsi's military overthrow as then-army chief, initiated a war on terror due to growing terrorist activities since Morsi's ouster and the following crackdown on his supporters that left about 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested.

Sisi also expressed support for the U.S.-led alliance against the Islamic State (IS) regional militant group and announced in a recent Arab summit that most Arab states initially agreed to form a joint military force to combat terrorism and maintain Arab national security.

Despite the Western criticism, including that of Amnesty International that described the trials in Egypt as "charade," many experts believe that the relations between Egypt and the West will not be significantly affected due to their shared goal of eliminating terrorism, in which Egypt plays a key role in the Middle East region.

"Egypt's role in fighting terrorism is increasingly expanding in the region, which will compel the Western states to maintain their relations with the country regardless of the verdicts," Hassan Nafaa, a political science professor at Cairo University, told Xinhua.

The professor added that the mass death sentences might add some "unease" to the Egyptian-Western relations, but the approach will continue due to Egypt's key role in the anti-terrorism campaign.

WESTERN REGIONAL INTERSTS

Most Western states rejected Morsi's removal in July 2013 as the man was the first democratically-elected president in the country's modern history, and they practiced pressure on Egypt to the point that the United States decided to withhold its 1.3 billion-dollar military aid to the country three months after Morsi's overthrow.

However, they gradually normalized ties with the most populous Arab country due to Egypt's regional influence and its role in anti-terror war, and U.S. President Barack Obama told Sisi in a phone call that "he will continue to request" the annual aid return to Egypt, which signals the U.S. release of the 1.3 billion-dollar annual assistance to the country.

Experts believe that relations between Egypt and the West are governed by regional interests rather than any other domestic affairs of the country, which still might be used by some Western states, particularly the United States, to pressure Egypt when necessary.

In addition, the United States has allies in the Middle East and cares for the security of its number one regional ally, Israel, with which Egypt has a peace treaty that has been maintained for over 35 years.

"The Egyptian leadership has already improved its relations with the West and got international recognition due to its leading role in the region," Saeed al-Lawindi, political researcher and expert at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Xinhua.

He added that the West sees Egypt as a major regional player after the country managed to establish itself as influential in its Arab and African domains by fixing ties with the African Union, getting unlimited support from the oil-rich Gulf states, joining the anti-Houthi Saudi-led military alliance for Yemen, helping release of detained Ethiopians in Libya, etc.

Ahmed al-Ghamrawi, former assistant foreign minister and Egypt's former ambassador to Iraq, echoed Lawindi's opinion that "interests" have the upper hand in the Western perception of Egypt and their relations with the country.

"Morsi's death sentence will not affect their relations with Egypt," the ex-diplomat told Xinhua.

"On the contrary, after Egypt inaugurates its new Suez Canal expansion in August, the United States will get closer to Egypt to prevent other big powers like Russia from controlling such a strategic spot via huge projects with Egypt." Endit