US embassy cable - 05CAIRO3807

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CAIRO 003807 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OVIP, OTRA, PREL, EG, Visits 
SUBJECT: THE FIRST LADY'S VISIT TO EGYPT 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU)  Embassy Cairo warmly welcomes the visit of First 
Lady Laura Bush to Egypt.  This visit is an opportunity for 
the U.S. to emphasize for the Egyptian public and its 
leadership our concern over the essential societal issues of 
education and literacy.  Egypt's first lady, Suzanne Mubarak, 
who has a well-earned prominent role in governmental and 
non-governmental organizations focused in these areas, will 
join Mrs. Bush for much of her program.  The program will 
also include an opportunity to meet with some of Egypt's 
prominent women activists. 
 
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Schedule highlights 
------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU)  The First Lady's schedule will include events in 
both Cairo and Alexandria.  Key components of the Cairo stop 
include a joint TV taping with Mrs. Mubarak of Egypt's 
Arabic-language version of Sesame Street (Alam Sim-sim), 
interviews with U.S. morning show hosts against the backdrop 
of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids of Giza, a lunch hosted 
by Mrs. Mubarak for leading women on establishment NGOs, a 
visit to a "one room girls' school" designed to bring girls 
who have been denied educational opportunity back to school, 
an Embassy community "meet and greet," and an Embassy-hosted 
event with leading reform-oriented women.  The First Lady's 
visit to Cairo, home to almost 20 million of Egypt's 72 
million inhabitants, will receive wide coverage and provide 
her with a snapshot of educational and women's issues facing 
Egyptian society. 
 
3.  (SBU)  The First Lady's second day will focus on 
Alexandria, Egypt's "second city" with its rich Mediterranean 
history.  The First Lady will visit a secondary school and 
the Alexandria Library before departing Egypt. 
 
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Suzanne Mubarak 
--------------- 
 
3.  (SBU)  Suzanne Mubarak is an active and very public first 
lady.  She will be a gracious hostess.  Her many public 
appearances in support of charitable causes, including 
frequent overseas trips for international conferences, get 
prominent play in the Egyptian media and she wields 
considerable clout in domestic politics.  This is 
particularly true when it comes to promoting education and 
literacy, issues also supported by President Mubarak. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Mrs. Mubarak's primary areas of interest focus on 
girls' education, women's rights, literacy, social welfare, 
and health care.  She is the head of the Egyptian Red 
Crescent Society (similar to the American Red Cross), the 
National Council for Women, and the National Council on 
Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), among myriad other titles. 
As the President's wife, she takes on high-profile causes. 
Recently, she took a lead role in getting the large, upper 
class suburb of Heliopolis (where she and President Mubarak 
live) spruced up for the neighborhood's 100th anniversary 
celebrations. 
 
5.  (SBU)  With a particular emphasis on women's and 
children's issues, Mrs. Mubarak has attended the 1995 Women's 
conference in Beijing, headed the Egyptian delegation to a 
special UN session on Women in 2000, joined prominently in 
the 2001 Arab Women's summit, participated in the 1990 World 
Summit on Children, and has sponsored many literacy and 
education related programs in Egypt.  She also has actively 
supported peace initiatives, to include humanitarian efforts 
in support of the Palestinians, including sponsoring caravans 
of basic food supplies during the height of the intifada. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Mrs. Mubarak is Christian, while her husband is 
Muslim.  She has two children: the single Gamal (in his early 
40's) who is the head of the ruling National Democratic 
Party's Policies Committee and an older son, Alaa who focuses 
on business interests.  Married (to former UNICEF official 
Heidi Rasekh), Alaa has not been involved in politics.  His 
two sons are President Mubarak's only grandchildren. 
 
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Cairo sites 
----------- 
 
7.  (SBU)  In Cairo, the First Lady will be greeted by 
Suzanne Mubarak at President Mubarak's official palace for a 
short courtesy call before proceeding to a joint taping of 
Egypt's Arabic language TV version of Sesame Street, "Alam 
Simsim."  The program, which was launched with USAID support 
in 1997, is extremely popular in Egypt and is rebroadcast 
around the Arab world.  One of the program's principle aims 
is to promote literacy.  Mrs. Mubarak appeared on the program 
in 2003, reading a book to one of the muppet-like characters. 
 
 
8.  (SBU)  After appearing on U.S. TV shows, Mrs. Bush will 
be hosted at the historic Mena House Hotel adjacent to the 
Pyramids.  Egyptian Guests at the lunch will include female 
representatives of the boards of various non-Governmental 
organizations that Mrs. Mubarak has taken a leading role in 
promoting.  After lunch Mrs. Mubarak will accompany The First 
Lady to the Abu Sir Girls' School.  This school, established 
by the NCCM, is part of a country-wide effort to provide 
girls in rural areas the opportunity to attend school. The 
schools use modern curriculum, versus the standard 
memorization used in many Egyptian schools and bring girls of 
different ages together in one classroom with the goal of 
reintegrating them into public secondary schools at age 14. 
 
9.  (SBU)  The First Lady will also participate in an Embassy 
community meet-and-greet and an Embassy-hosted event for 
leading women involved in reform in Egypt.  These women, 
representing a wide cross-section of society are involved in 
projects ranging from political reform to education. 
 
 
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Alexandria sites 
---------------- 
 
10.  (SBU)  In Alexandria the primary stop  will be at the 
Library, known as the "Bibliotheca Alexandrina."  The 
library's inspiration is the ancient library built by Ptolemy 
I in ancient Alexandria around 295 BC, which epitomized the 
intellectual splendor of the classical world.  In the words 
of Mrs. Mubarak, the Bibliotheca "seeks nothing less than to 
recapture the spirit of the ancient library of Alexandria, 
center of knowledge and of ecumenism of the ancient world." 
Opened in 2002, after a 28-year effort, and at cost of USD 
220 million--mostly donated by foreign governments--the 
building is an architectural and engineering marvel.  It 
includes museums and galleries, research facilities and 
auditoria, as well as the largest reading room in the world, 
the size of New York's Grand Central Station.  Director 
Ismail Serageldin, a former World Bank Vice President, has 
used the Library to host reform conferences including two on 
reform in the Arab world and seeks to foster its image as a 
"clearing house of progressive ideas."  He has an ambitious 
agenda of projects but funding remains a key issue:  although 
the library's shelves are designed to hold eight million 
volumes, they currently have only 350,000. 
 
11.  (SBU)  The First Lady will also visit a secondary school 
which is part of the Egyptian Government's efforts to give 
local communities more power over education.  This pilot 
school, part of a USAID-funded project, supports modern 
teaching methods and greater input from parents and community 
leaders into the education process, has the potential to 
serve as a model throughout the Arab World. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Civil society issues facing Egypt 
--------------------------------- 
 
12.  (SBU)  Egypt claims a proud history of developing 
democratic institutions, such as an elected parliament 
(People's Assembly and Shura Council, although two-thirds of 
the latter's membership are appointed) and an independent 
judiciary.  Yet, the public is becoming significantly more 
vocal about demands for more open governance.  Recent street 
protests are departing from the traditional focus on disdain 
for U.S. policies in Israel or Iraq and rather energetically 
pointing to the need for domestic political reform. 
President Mubarak's decision to amend the constitution to 
allow for competitive presidential elections, which has been 
endorsed by the parliament and is on the agenda for a May 25 
referendum, has met with a mix of praise and calls for more 
meaningful reform.  The decision opens a new door in a nation 
which has never directly elected its leader.  Opposition 
figures, however, point to "high hurdles" governing the 
process of registering candidates. 
 
13.  (SBU)  The Egyptian government, in trying to strike a 
balance between demands for political reform and ensuring 
stability, has stated that it will not permit public 
demonstrations to turn violent; many would argue that the 
government is already too restrictive in regulating 
demonstrations.  The government's perceived constraints on 
opening the political process too quickly include concerns 
that religiously oriented groups, particularly the powerful 
Muslim Brotherhood (outlawed but partially tolerated), might 
take advantage of that process for their own purposes.  The 
tension between public desire for more openness and the need 
for stability will continue to feature in the political 
dialogue in Cairo. 
 
14.  (SBU)  Some specific benchmarks that the U.S. would 
welcome are revocation of the emergency law which has been in 
effect for decades, participation of international monitors 
in the upcoming elections (to help bestow international 
legitimacy on the process), expanded religious freedom for 
all faiths, and greater latitude for NGO's to actively foster 
civil society and promote broader participation in governance. 
 
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Economic and regional context 
----------------------------- 
 
15.  (SBU)  In spite of increased public interest in domestic 
politics this spring, the primary concern of most Egyptians 
continues to be their economic well being.  Egypt's new Prime 
Minister, who assumed office last July and is visiting the 
U.S. May 14-20, has embarked on a series of economic reform 
measures that are designed to boost Egypt's prospects for a 
prosperous future.  Ongoing reforms include changes in 
customs regulations and the corporate tax code, each require 
a concerted effort to fully implement here in Egypt. 
Business people hope that the long term benefits of these 
reforms will put Egypt on a stronger economic footing; Egypt 
is also hopeful that negotiations for a free trade agreement 
with the U.S. are on the near horizon.  While working to 
improve the broad economic parameters which drive prosperity, 
the Egyptian government is also reluctant to reduce subsidies 
on basic commodities for its vast population; the people have 
come to expect a certain "boost" from the government and many 
will continue to judge the success of the regime on 
short-term pocketbook issues. 
 
16.  (SBU)  The Palestinian issue is the major regional 
political issue influencing Egyptian thinking.  Since 
President Sadat's courageous decision to visit Jerusalem in 
1977, Egypt has been more engaged with both sides of the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict than any other regional player. 
President Mubarak and his cabinet maintain an active dialogue 
with Israeli counterparts and look for practical ways to 
bring security to the Palestinian territories.  In the public 
political psyche, the Palestinian issue is as much a domestic 
concern as a foreign policy issue - perceived grievances of 
the Palestinian population resonate deeply in Egypt and the 
Arab world. 
 
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Educational concerns 
-------------------- 
 
17.  (SBU)  Education is an area in which Egypt faces the 
daunting task of preparing over 600,000 young people annually 
to enter the workforce.  The sheer numbers of school children 
nearly overwhelm an education system that many Egyptians 
agree needs extensive modernization.  Large portions of the 
national curriculum, despite recent efforts at modernization, 
remain woefully out of date and the public education system 
is plagued by drastic resource shortfalls, a serious capacity 
deficit in its teaching corps, overcrowded and dilapidated 
facilities, and pervasive corruption.  Experts agree that 
this system leaves Egyptian graduates ill equipped to compete 
in the global marketplace.  USAID's mission in Egypt contains 
a substantial program to address Egypt's educational needs. 
The First Lady will be visiting two schools assisted by USAID 
in a "pilot schools" program that aims to introduce an 
entirely new model for public education in Egypt. 
 
18.  (SBU)  Egypt has a tradition of strong women in 
leadership positions that dates back to Pharonic times.  The 
First Lady will be meeting with many of Egypt's most 
influential women, many of whom may suggest that Egypt's 
treatment of women is on par with more developed countries. 
However, international studies continue to document the 
serious challenges confronting Egyptian women, including 
credible estimates which put female illiteracy as high as 60 
percent.  Improvements in the delivery of quality education 
goes hand in hand with the development of a more robust role 
for women in Egypt's future. 
 
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Impact of the visit 
------------------- 
 
19.  (SBU)  The First Lady's visit to Egypt will reinforce 
U.S. support for the critical issues of education and 
literacy, will underline our commitment to the region, and 
will present a positive image of U.S. involvement in the Arab 
World.  Mrs. Mubarak is looking forward to hosting the visit, 
and the Egyptian Press will devote considerable coverage to 
the two-day visit. 
 
 
Visit Embassy Cairo's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/cairo 
 
You can also access this site through the 
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. 
 
GRAY