US: 'Limited' engagement with Muslim Brotherhood

[June 30, 2011]  BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) -- The Obama administration is reaching out to the Muslim Brotherhood in a "limited" effort to build ties and promote democratic principles ahead of Egypt's upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the U.S. isn't adopting a new policy. She says the administration wants to engage all Egyptian groups as long as they espouse nonviolence.

Clinton says the hard-line group also must respect minority rights and the full inclusion of women in the political sphere.

The Brotherhood favors a regime guided by Islamic Sharia law and was outlawed under former strongman Hosni Mubarak.

Israel is wary of any engagement with the Muslim Brotherhood because of the hostility some of its members have expressed toward the Jewish state.

[Associated Press; By BRADLEY KLAPPER]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.