Egypt back on the map in Middle East

Representatives of the hitherto hostile Palestinian organisations Hamas and Fatah signed a peace agreement in Cairo on Wednesday. The left-liberal daily The Guardian finds it remarkable that Egypt is now once more emerging as a major player in the Middle East peace process so soon after its revolution: "The Cairo accord could well turn out to be as fragile as the one signed in Mecca four years ago. It can still be undermined in a myriad of ways. But the clock itself cannot be so easily put back. The new factor which will not be changed is Egypt's re-emergence as a major player in the Middle East. No one expected a foreign policy to emerge before a domestic one, least of all before the government itself had been formed. But if Egypt succeeds in projecting its will as Turkey has done, it has the numbers to change the balance of power. It is wholly in the interests of the US and the EU to have a government in Cairo that will keep a peace accord with Israel but not be servile to its interests."

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