US hints it would not object to Brotherhood win in Egypt

The newly-appointed special coordinator for Middle East transitions, William Taylor, said that US will be satisfied if the Brotherhood party comes out ahead in a free and fair elections starting this month.What we need to do is judge people and parties and movements on what they do, not what theyre called, Taylor told a forum at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think-tank.In June Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington had been in limited contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood as part of an effort to adjust to Egypts political upheaval.But the talks drew ire from some Republican US lawmakers who expressed concern that the Brotherhood would seek to establish Muslim Sharia law in Egypt and North Africa.The region has seen unprecedented change this year in the Arab spring movement, notably in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia where longstanding dictatorships were toppled, in large part by peoples revolutions.These revolutions, this movement toward democracy has the ability to repudiate the terrorist narrative, Taylor said.But Cairo was plunged into turmoil this week when the military-controlled transitional government announced plans to take greater control of the formation of a new Egyptian constitution.I do see it as a problem, Taylor, who visited Cairo last week and met with several military leaders, warned about a possible renewed military power grab in Egypt, adding that such a move would lead to a bad place -- authoritarian again.Egypts powerful Muslim Brotherhood and other smaller Islamist parties threatened to bring a million protesters into the streets in opposition of the plan.Taylor said that while he did not meet Muslim Brotherhood officials in Cairo, I would have, given the opportunity.