US embassy cable - 05CAIRO4127

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 004127 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, OPRC, KPAO, EG, Media 
SUBJECT:  SHAKE-UP RUMORED IN EGYPTIAN PRO-GOVERNMENT PRESS 
AFTER MUBARAK INTERVIEW FLAP 
 
REF:  CAIRO 3767 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  An unprecedented "correction" in the 
pro-government Al Ahram newspaper has sparked a tense 
stand-off between ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) 
Secretary General Safwat El Sherif and pro-government Al 
 
SIPDIS 
Ahram Editor-in-chief Ibrahim Nafei.  The correction to a 
report on a Kuwait news interview with President Mubarak 
came at the request of the presidency, which reportedly 
objected to the inclusion of two statements -- one 
concerning the Muslim Brotherhood and one concerning heir- 
apparent Gamal Mubarak.  Since the May 15 correction was 
printed (reftel), rumors have circulated that Sherif has 
threatened "big changes" in the pro-government press. 
Sherif's threat may be an attempt to keep the pro- 
government media in line ahead of this fall's elections. 
End Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU)  At the reported request of the presidency, Al 
Ahram printed on May 15 an unprecedented "correction" on 
its report of President Mubarak's interview with Kuwaiti 
daily Al Siyassa.  The newspaper backed away from two 
comments it had reported as made by President Mubarak 
during the interview:  1) that Mubarak was "awake" to 
alleged USG-Muslim Brotherhood (MB) dialogue and 2) that 
his son Gamal, "like an Egyptian citizen," could now run 
for president.  Mohammed Basha, a managing editor at Al 
Ahram, told a PA officer that palace officials were anxious 
about Mubarak's comments on USG-MB dialogue, given that PM 
Nazif was in the U.S. at the time, and feared that the 
comment about Gamal implied Mubarak's endorsement of his 
son for the presidency. 
 
3. (SBU)  According to a Ministry of Information official, 
the Al Ahram "correction" was not the newspaper's fault, 
but rather the result of "sloppy performance by the new 
Minister of Information."  Basha backed up this opinion 
when he told a PA officer that Al Ahram never received the 
interview's text through official channels, and so, with a 
deadline approaching, the newspaper simply took the text of 
the interview from Al Siyassa's website.  The alternative - 
- not reporting on the President's interview -- was not an 
option. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Basha blamed the bureaucratic snafu on the 
failure of Minister of Information Anas El Fekki to appoint 
a Director of the State Information Service, who would 
normally be in charge of presidential interviews.  "If 
someone had been in charge of the President's interviews, 
then none of this would have happened," stated Basha.  "But 
Al Ahram was blamed -- not the government!"  (Note:  El 
Fekki appointed Nasser Ahmed Kamel as Director of the State 
Information Service on May 20.  Kamel, a career ambassador 
who served in Washington with former FM Ahmed Maher, worked 
as the head of the African bureau at MFA before assuming 
his new position.  End note.) 
 
5. (SBU)  According to several press contacts, Al Ahram 
Editor-in-chief Ibrahim Nafei (Note:  Nafei has been a 
close confident of and widely-considered mouthpiece for 
Mubarak.  End note) criticized El Fekki, following the Al 
Ahram "correction," in private for being "inexperienced and 
unreliable."  Formerly the Minister of Youth and Sport, El 
Fekki was named Minister of Information February 2005 after 
a six-month tenure by Mamdouh El Beltagui.  NDP Secretary 
General Safwat El Sherif had been the long-running Minister 
of Information until July 2004, and he sponsored and 
supported El Fekki as the new Minister of Information. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Upon hearing Nafei's comments, Sherif fired back 
publicly in criticism aimed at the "gray-haired old guard" 
in political parties and the national press who were 
"against reform."  Nafei then responded indirectly in a 
column on May 24, writing that "dialogue is better than bad 
language." 
 
7.  (SBU)  This back and forth between Sherif and Nafei has 
sparked rumors within press circles that "big changes" 
would come to the pro-government newspapers -- a threat 
reportedly made privately by Sherif himself.  However, a 
palace official reported to PA FSN on May 26 that "it would 
be illogical to change horses during the race," implying 
that with elections coming up later this year, it was not 
the time for a shake-up of the government press.  Likewise, 
an editor with pro-government October magazine 
(circulation: 25,000), Mohamed Al Masry, who works closely 
with NDP members of Parliament, reported to PA FSN on May 
26 that changes would likely come after the elections. 
"Some people have long memories," stated Al Masry. 
 
8.  (SBU)  Comment:  Sherif's reported threat of reprisals 
against a media giant such as Ibrahim Nafei was likely 
meant as a warning to all pro-government newspaper editors 
to follow the party line leading up to this year's 
elections -- or else.  Sherif's threat might also be 
personal, directed against Nafei himself, given Nafei's 
questioning of Sherif protege El Fekki's ability.  End 
comment. 
 
GRAY