The American government did not support the uprising at the start, said Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, in a Monday interview with an Egyptian newspaper.
The interview contradicts a popular belief in Egypt that the US supported the Egyptian revolution.
The US only backed the 25 January uprising after realizing that former President Hosni Mubarak, its strong ally in the Arab world, was about to fall, said Mogahed, a former adviser to US President Barack Obama.
Asked if the US has backed the Egypt's and other Arab revolutions through channeling funds to pro-democracy groups, Mogahed vehemently denied the allegations.
“The United States did not want the [Egyptian] revolution,” Mogahed told the state-run daily Al-Akhbar newspaper on Monday. “It took them a long time to realize that Mubarak was no longer in control, so [Washington] decided to step in and support the revolutionaries.”
The 37-year-old scholar said that some among US political circles still feel uncomfortable about the recent developments in Egypt.
“Even now, many in the United States still think that Mubarak’s presence was better for American interests, since he did everything they demanded,” she said.
The military and state-run media have alleged over the last few months that the US had funded and trained many of the pro-democracy movements that participated in toppling Mubarak.
