US embassy cable - 05CAIRO4124

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 004124 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA, NEA/ELA, AND NEA/PI 
NSC STAFF FOR POUNDS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2015 
TAGS: KDEM, PGOV, PHUM, EG, Democracy, Visits, outreach 
SUBJECT: RECENT EMBASSY EFFORTS TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY IN 
EGYPT 
 
REF: A. CAIRO 4059 (NOTAL) 
     B. CAIRO 4025 (NOTAL) 
     C. CAIRO 4024 
     D. CAIRO 3953 (NOTAL) 
     E. CAIRO 3638 (EXDIS) 
     F. CAIRO 3627 (NOTAL) 
     G. CAIRO 3493 
 
Classified by Charge Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
1.  (SBU)  Embassy Cairo continued in May its robust outreach 
program to support the expansion of democracy and freedom in 
Egypt, with a particular focus on international monitors. 
Activities in May included the visit of the First Lady to 
Egypt; a grants-signing ceremony for the latest civil society 
recipients of the Self Help Program funds; a meeting with PM 
Nazif, prior to his departure for Washington; a meeting with 
G-7 COMs to push their support for democracy activities and a 
briefing for the diplomatic corps; and various other 
reform-oriented meetings by high-level visitors, the Charge, 
and Embassy officers.  End summary. 
 
------------------------- 
Support for Civil Society 
------------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU)  In a public diplomacy triumph, First Lady Laura 
Bush visited Egypt May 23-24 and her activities included a 
focus on reform in Egypt, particularly in the education 
field.  The First Lady also delivered remarks to a group of 
60 prominent Egyptian women activists, from the Government, 
NGOs, think-tanks, academia, and the media (ref D). 
 
3.  (C)  On the margins of the First Lady's visit, the 
Embassy arranged for NDI's regional representative to brief 
NEA PDAS Cheney on NDI planning for Egypt.  Also on the 
margins of the First Lady's visit, PDAS Cheney delivered a 
strong message on the need for Arab League leadership on 
political reform to Arab League Secretary General Amre Moussa 
(ref A). 
 
4.  (SBU)  PDAS Cheney's meeting with NDI built on previous 
meetings that poloff--both alone and with MEPI-Tunis Regional 
Director Mulrean--had held several times during May with the 
NDI's regional representative to discuss NDI's efforts to 
open a Cairo office and begin substantial programming in 
Egypt. 
 
5.  (SBU)  The Embassy's May 9 announcement of eight new 
small grants, under the auspices of the Ambassador's Self 
Help Program, to Egyptian community development associations 
received generally positive press coverage.  Most media 
attention provided factual coverage of the details of the 
grants as well as the Charge's remarks, which discussed the 
range of USG development assistance programs in Egypt and 
reiterated USG support for democracy-promotion activities by 
civil society.  A leading opposition daily, Wafd, and a 
tabloid weekly, Osboa, sought to use the May 9 event as 
evidence of continued "interference" by the USG in Egypt's 
internal affairs, but these criticisms did not demonstrate 
any staying power. 
 
6.  (SBU)  On May 25, the Charge hosted a luncheon meeting 
for approximately 15 civil society activists, including MEPI 
grantees.  In remarks to the group, the Charge underscored 
USG support for civil society activism in support of 
democracy and freedom. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Support for Broad Political Participation 
----------------------------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU)  On the occasion of Senate Majority Leader Frist's 
May 4-6 visit to Egypt (ref G), Senator Frist attended a 
lunch organized by the Embassy which included a range of key 
Egyptian reform advocates including prominent NDP reformists 
Hossam Badrawy and Mohammed Kamal, Wafd Party leaders Mahmoud 
Abaza and Mounir Abdel Nour, leading liberal intellectuals 
Osama Ghazaly Harb and Hala Mostafa, and Ghad Party 
Secretary-General Mona Makram Ebeid.  The diverse guest list 
 
SIPDIS 
stimulated lively conversation and debate over the state of 
Egypt's political reform and prospects for the future. 
Senator Frist encouraged the guests to press forward with an 
Egyptian-designed and Egyptian-driven reform process, and 
affirmed U.S. interest in providing support, political and 
material, toward achieving real progress.  Senator Frist, 
accompanied by the Charge, also met with Ghad Party leader 
Ayman Nour the same day to signal support for a free and fair 
campaign. 
 
8.  (C)  On May 11, the Charge and ECPO Counselor met with 
Shafiq Gabr, a prominent business leader with close ties to 
the reformist wing of the NDP (ref F).  In response to Gabr's 
defense of the proposed new rules for direct presidential 
elections (which were passed by Parliament on May 10, and 
later ratified in a national referendum on May 25), the 
Charge cautioned Gabr that the new rules would only be seen 
as reasonable if upcoming parliamentary elections resulted in 
truly diverse party representation in the People's Assembly. 
(Note:  According to the new rules, only parties with 
representation of five percent or more in the People's 
Assembly will be able to nominate candidates for president in 
2011 and beyond.  These rules will not apply to the 2005 
presidential elections, which will allow any registered 
political party to field a candidate.  End note.)  On May 30, 
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and 
Counter-terrorism Fran Townsend met with Gabr to express, 
inter alia, concern over the violence surrounding the May 25 
referendum and press for GOE acceptance of international 
election monitors.  We are confident that this message will 
be passed to key NDP decision makers. 
 
9.  (C)  On May 17, the Charge discussed with Tarek Heggy, a 
pro-reform intellectual, the significance of GOE-led reform 
measures to date.  The Charge urged Heggy to continue to use 
his published writings (a selection of which may be seen at 
www.heggy.com) to push for meaningful political reform. 
Heggy, who is a neighbor of EGIS Director Soliman, is well 
connected with senior GOE officials. 
 
10.  (C)  On several occasions over the course of May, ECPO 
Counselor advised Karim Haggag, senior advisor to Gamal 
Mubarak, the presidential son and chairman of the NDP's 
Policies Committee, of the need for the GOE to demonstrate 
concrete additional steps on political reform.  ECPO 
Counselor pressed for GOE acceptance of international 
election monitors and freedom for opposition candidates to 
campaign effectively.  In the most recent exchange with 
Haggag (ref C), ECPO Counselor also pressed Haggag on reports 
of violence on May 25 against opposition demonstrators by 
regime supporters, with the apparent acquiescence of security 
officials. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Support for International Elections Monitors 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
11.  (C)  On May 12, just before PM Nazif's visit to the 
United States, the Charge met with the PM to preview the 
visit (ref E).  The Charge urged Nazif to be prepared when in 
Washington to discuss the concrete political reform steps 
that the GOE is taking.  In particular, the Charge pressed 
Nazif on the issue of international election monitors and 
suggested that Nazif consider how the USG could provide 
technical support to the GOE, for example to establish an 
independent election commission. 
 
10.  (SBU)  During the May 15 meeting of G-7 Ambassadors, the 
Charge briefed the group on USG democracy-promotion 
activities in Egypt, including programs by USAID, MEPI, and 
DRL, and urged the G-7 countries to engage the GOE on the 
issue of promoting free and fair elections in Egypt, with 
international monitors.  He followed up with the EU 
Ambassador on May 22 to press for greater EU activism in 
promoting democracy in Egypt. 
 
11.  (SBU)  On May 26, during a briefing for the diplomatic 
corps on the visits of PM Nazif to Washington and First Lady 
Laura Bush to Egypt (ref B), the Charge exhorted the 
attendees to urge their governments to press Egypt to accept 
international monitors, as called for by President Bush 
during his May 7 speech in Latvia. 
 
12.  (SBU)  During a May 30 meeting with political officers 
from "like-minded" embassies in Cairo (i.e., France, Norway, 
the UK, Germany, Italy, Australia, the Netherlands, and the 
EU), poloff urged his colleagues to seize any and all 
opportunities to engage with the GOE on the issue of 
international observers/monitors of Egypt's upcoming 
elections. 
 
13.  (SBU)  Finally, on May 31 the Charge used a discussion 
with the members of the Egyptian Council on Foreign Relations 
to warn that how the GOE conducted upcoming elections would 
inevitably color the bilateral relationship (SEPTEL/NOTAL). 
 
 
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