Former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday that after meeting with Egypt’s military rulers, he doubted they would fully submit to the authority of the civilian democracy they had promised to install.
” ‘Full civilian control’ is a little excessive, I think,” Carter said, describing a meeting he had Tuesday with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, leader of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF. “I don’t think the SCAF is going to turn over full responsibility to the civilian government. There are going to be some privileges of the military that would probably be protected.”
Carter’s assessments of Egypt’s political transition are significant because his role in the Camp David accords made him a revered figure in Egypt. Denver Post wire services
