US embassy cable - 05CAIRO4709

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 004709 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: NA 
TAGS: PGOV, EG, KPAO, OVIP, PREL, Democracy Reform, Media 
SUBJECT: SECRETARY RICE'S VISIT A SUCCESS IN EYES OF 
HER AUDIENCE AND EGYPTIAN MEDIA 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Secretary Rice's visit to Egypt on 
June 20 and her speech at the American University in 
Cairo (AUC) led all Egyptian reporting, both in print 
and on television.  Coverage was generally positive, 
with most commentators applauding what they perceived 
as a less-aggressive tone both in the Secretary's 
speech and in her comments at the press conference 
with Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit.  However, several 
commentators suggested Egyptians would dismiss the 
Secretary's push for greater democracy, since U.S. 
 
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democratic efforts in Iraq, in their view, have 
failed.  Members of the audience at AUC appreciated 
the candidness and delivery of her speech, even if 
they did not agree fully with the message.  End 
summary. 
 
2.  (U) Secretary Rice's June 20 visit to Egypt led 
all Egyptian media reports.  Pro-government 
newspapers led with Secretary Rice's meeting with 
President Mubarak, relegating her speech and her 
meeting with reform-minded individuals to inside 
pages.  Opposition papers tended to highlight the 
Secretary's speech and her comments at the press 
 
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conference with Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit about 
free and fair elections.  All newspapers reported the 
Secretary's comments that the U.S. would not meet 
 
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with the Muslim Brotherhood. 
 
3.  (U) All newspapers published large excerpts from 
the Secretary's speech, however no paper printed the 
entire text of the Secretary's speech.  Pro- 
government papers tended to omit the segments of the 
speech that addressed progress towards greater 
democracy in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and the 
Palestinian territories, while opposition papers 
highlighted these segments.  Opposition newspaper Al 
Wafd (circulation: 70,000) carried a front-page 
headline that quoted Secretary Rice as lauding the 
Wafd Party for its contribution to Egyptian 
democracy.  Only independent Al Masry Al Youm 
(circulation: 20,000) reported on a small protest in 
Cairo on June 20 that called for an end to the 
Mubarak presidency and suggested Secretary Rice take 
a stronger stand on democracy in Egypt.  (Note: The 
protesters apparently chanted in English "Give him a 
visa, Condoleezza," suggesting the Secretary take 
Mubarak back to the U.S.  End Note.) 
 
4.  (U) Newspaper columnists in the pro-government 
press uniformly suggested Secretary Rice had adopted 
a new, more conciliatory tone during her visit to 
Egypt.  A columnist in pro-government Al Ahram 
(circulation: 800,000) theorized that Secretary 
Rice's lack of "threats" may have been due to 
frustrations in U.S. policy in Iraq and the harm the 
violence there is doing to U.S. democracy efforts in 
the region.  The editor-in-chief of pro-government Al 
Akhbar (circulation: 750,000) praised the Secretary's 
comments during the joint press conference as 
"balanced, diplomatic, and unprovocative."  Al 
Goumhuriya (pro-government, circulation: 500,000) 
editor-in-chief claimed that Secretary Rice had 
fostered a new atmosphere between Egypt and the U.S. 
by "giving up on her arrogance and provocative 
statements."  He praised Secretary Rice for 
highlighting Egypt's important role in the region and 
for stating that the U.S. would not meet with the 
Muslim Brotherhood.  Opposition columnists generally 
did not address the visit in the June 21 editions. 
 
5. (U) All television talk shows discussed the 
Secretary's visit, while her interview with Nile TV 
 
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ran repeatedly in English and, again, with Arabic 
subtitles.  Orbit TV's "Al Qahira Al Youm" hosted a 
member of the ruling National Democratic Party's 
Secretariat, who described U.S.-Egyptian relations as 
 
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"healthy" and said that Egyptians like America, as 
demonstrated by their propensity to send their 
children to university there.  The program host, who 
had attended the Secretary's speech, praised her 
"new, soft tone," while Al Ghad party chairman Ayman 
Nour and Al Wafd party member Mounir Abdel Nour 
commented by phone on the Secretary's meeting with 
reformers, emphasizing that they were invited to 
attend as individuals and not as representatives of 
their parties.  Some guests on Channel One's "Malaf 
Khas" and Nile TV's "Monday" programs suggested that 
failures in the U.S.-designed democracy in Iraq are 
hurting U.S. efforts to promote democracy in the rest 
of the region.  Meanwhile, a political analyst on 
Nile News praised the Secretary's comments on Israeli 
withdrawal from Gaza and her agreement that democracy 
cannot be imposed on a society.  Guests on several of 
these programs rejected U.S. election observers 
during upcoming Egyptian elections. 
 
6.  (SBU) In informal comments to PA staff, Mohamed 
Abdul Hadi of Al Ahram newspaper commented that her 
delivery was not as harsh as many Egyptians might 
have expected  a belief confirmed by the many 
commentators who remarked on the Secretary's "softer" 
tone.  He said it left people with the impression 
that the Secretary was not trying to impose a U.S. 
ultimatum on Egypt.  Many other journalists 
appreciated her acknowledgement of America's own 
rocky road towards full and free elections.  Amr 
Adeeb, host of the popular Orbit TV daily talk show 
"Al Qahira Al Youm," pointed out that the applause 
after her speech at AUC was much greater than that 
which greeted her arrival. 
 
7. (SBU) Likewise, audience members interviewed by 
Embassy officers after the Secretary's speech at AUC 
generally agreed that the speech was balanced and 
well-delivered.  Comments included: 
 
-- "Excellent speech, liked it very much and the 
candor with which it was delivered.  I also liked her 
answer to the issue of the desecration of the Quran." 
(Aly El Samman, Secretary General of the Al Azhar-led 
Interfaith Dialogue Committee) 
 
-- "Overall a good speech and nothing out of what was 
expected.  She touched on all the points that we were 
expecting her to touch on." (Dr. Mohamed Kamal, NDP 
member, Shura Council) 
 
-- "Secretary Rice's speech was excellent, but I was 
hoping she would more directly address why the USG 
would not communicate or work with the Muslim 
Brotherhood (MB)....If the MB legitimately gained 
power here in Egypt, would the U.S. support it? If 
not, why not?" (unidentified attendee) 
 
-- "I loved the speech.  This is what we  as a civil 
society  are looking for.  The GOE will have to 
comply knowing that the message is out there  that 
it was delivered in Egypt and with Egyptians hearing 
it first hand.  I have no doubt in my mind now that 
the GOE will have to allow international observers, 
or at the very least will not stop them when they 
come." (Nasser Amin, Arab Center for the Independence 
ce 
of the Judiciary and Legal Profession) 
 
-- "I thoroughly enjoyed the speech and the question- 
answer session.  My only criticism is that I feel 
Secretary Rice should have been a bit tougher on 
 
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pushing for democratic reform here in Egypt and that 
she should have more strongly emphasized that Egypt 
cannot be the exception to reform."  (Moheb Zaki, 
Senior Advisor, Ibn Khaldun Center) 
 
8.  (SBU) Comment.  There is no question that the 
Secretary had a positive impact on those who attended 
 
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the speech.  It should be noted that the audience was 
heavily weighted with Embassy contacts, academics, 
and others likely to listen with an open mind. 
Attacks and criticism from the reactionary yellow 
press and defensive nationalists are inevitable once 
they have had time to digest the speech and devise 
their responses. End Comment. 
 
GRAY