Egyptian liberals accuse US of trying to influence election results

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s liberal political parties say the US is trying to sway results of the country’s first post-Hosni Mubarak presidential elections and they want Washington to stop. The liberal parties also accused the Muslim Brotherhood of “hijacking” the revolution.

Saturday’s strongly worded statement by the bloc of liberal parties in parliament comes as tensions are high over a disputed runoff vote between the Brotherhood’s candidate and a Mubarak-era politician. Both campaigns have claimed victory and the electoral commission has postponed the release of official results.

The liberal parties accused the United States of putting pressure on the ruling military council to hand power to the Brotherhood.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton demanded that the military “support the democratic transition, to recede by turning over authority.”