20101118
africanews

Egyptian authorities have declined the observation of November 28 parliamentary elections by foreign parties, calling it an "interference in Egypt's affairs," AFP said on Thursday. The United States and other countries had asked to allow foreign observers to monitor the upcoming elections to guarantee a free and fair vote.

Phillip Crowley, a U.S. State Department spokesman said earlier this week that Washington supports a free electoral process in Egypt.

“Such a process would include a credible and impartial mechanism for reviewing election-related complaints, a domestic election observation effort according to international standards and the presence of international observers,” Crowley told the Middle East Online Web site.

But in an interview with the Egyptian Al-Ahram daily Thursday, Sawfat al-Sharif, secretary-general of the country's National Democratic Party said “Foreign monitoring is considered interference in Egypt's affairs. The National Democratic Party and legal opposition groups reject any such interference.”

In less than two weeks to election day, tension is mounting in the north African country. An unnamed spokesman of Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said police arrested 600 of its members with 250 remaining in jail, according to the website.