US embassy cable - 05CAIRO2930

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 002930 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, PREL, KPAO, IZ, EG 
SUBJECT:  IRAQI JOURNALISTS VENT THEIR FRUSTRATIONS ON 
EGYPTIAN COUNTERPARTS, BUT DECLINE TO BE QUOTED 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Do not publish on the 
Internet.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
REF:  CAIRO 1859 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  At a backyard reception for a group of 
visiting Iraqi journalists, Embassy staff witnessed a 
spirited discussion among the Iraqis and invited Egyptian 
journalists over the shortcomings of Egyptian media 
reporting on Iraq.  The lively interaction between the two 
groups of journalists was positive in that it increased 
Egyptian journalists' knowledge of the situation in Iraq. 
However, further Public Affairs impact of the event was 
limited, as the Iraqis refused to be photographed by the 
Egyptians or to be identified in news articles.  End 
summary. 
 
2.  (SBU)  On Thursday evening, March 31, PA Counselor 
hosted a backyard reception in honor of a dozen, mostly 
young, Iraqi journalists in Egypt for a 4-week training 
program at the American University in Cairo (AUC), funded 
by the UN Development Program with support from Reuters. 
Also invited were a number of their AUC professors and a 
mix of local print journalists.  Although the ostensible 
purpose of the event was to welcome the Iraqis and to 
demonstrate USG interest in and support for their training, 
it was also planned as an outreach program for introducing 
the Iraqis to younger, working-level Egyptian journalists, 
whose reporting on Iraq to date has been generally negative 
and critical of the U.S. role in Iraq. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Also attending were Saad Ridha, the Iraqi Charge 
d'Affaires in Cairo and Salah Nasrawi, an experienced Iraqi 
wire service journalist, now working in AP's Cairo bureau. 
Among the Iraqi journalists was Adnan Qahtan Kareem, a 
former admiral/chief of the Iraqi Naval staff, mainly 
educated in the former USSR. 
 
4.  (SBU)  The Iraqi journalists initially came to the 
attention of the Embassy through a PA officer who had 
previously served in Iraq.  All were invited via several 
journalists that PA officers had met, except that these 
intermediaries shortstopped the invitations to two of their 
number who, we were told, "couldn't be trusted" not to 
publicize the group's participation in an Embassy event and 
jeopardize the safety of all once back in Iraq. 
 
5.  (SBU)  We expected a lively discussion:  "All of us are 
tired of hearing Egyptians talk about the 'glorious Iraqi 
resistance,'" one of the Iraqis told us beforehand, "(it's) 
full of terrorists and criminals, who kill Iraqi 
journalists!  Egyptian journalists should know better." 
Another Iraqi expressed his frustration this way:  "Even 
after we explain to them how this 'resistance' is killing 
innocent Iraqis, Egyptian journalists we meet tell us that 
we are American agents -- or that we don't know what we're 
talking about.  How can they say this when they haven't 
visited Iraq?!"  In the end, we were not disappointed -- 
the visiting Iraqis were more than willing to vent their 
frustrations with what they freely characterized to their 
local counterparts as misleading and inaccurate Egyptian 
media reporting on Iraq. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Asked for their reactions after the event, the 
Iraqis were generally upbeat on the value of reaching out 
to Egyptians.  "(They) listened to us and asked good 
questions," remarked one of the Iraqis.  "One Egyptian 
reporter had even been to Iraq, and he explained to the 
other Egyptians how things (in Iraq) really are," observed 
another.  (Note:  The Egyptian journalist mentioned went to 
Iraq on a PA travel grant from Embassy Cairo reported 
reftel.  End note.)  All the Iraqis we heard from agreed 
that there remains great  misunderstanding between Iraqis 
and Egyptians, as well as other Arabs.  "Only by meeting 
and talking like this can we come to some understanding," 
stated one, "but Arabs have to come to Iraq to see for 
themselves.  They need to think about what the word 
'resistance' really means." 
 
7.  (SBU)  Comment:  Even as we hope to have other 
opportunities like this to bring Egyptians and Iraqis 
together, we need to keep in mind the distrust the Iraqis 
have for each other.  As already noted, two of the 
journalists did not receive their invitations because their 
colleagues considered them likely informers.  Additionally, 
although they used their own cameras to take souvenir 
photos with their American hosts, the Iraqis uniformly 
refused to be photographed by the Egyptian journalists 
present or to have their names or photos published in news 
articles.  While happy to set the record straight about the 
situation in Iraq, the visitors felt too threatened to be 
identified in even the Egyptian media.  Although we would 
have appreciated a wider airing of the candid views 
expressed that night, we need to be mindful of the security 
concerns of our Iraqi program participants.  End comment. 
8.  (U)  Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
GRAY