US embassy cable - 05CAIRO5000

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CAIRO 005000 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/PPD; ALSO FOR NEA/ELA, IIP/SC AND ECA/P 
 
E.O. 12958: NA 
TAGS: SCUL, OEXC, KPAO, EG, Public Diplomacy Results 
SUBJECT: EGYPT PUBLIC DIPLOMACY RESULTS AND 
ACTIVITIES (05/17/05-06/30/05) 
 
REF: CAIRO 3792 
 
Public Diplomacy programming in Egypt for this 
reporting period continued to address the full range 
of Post's MPP themes.  This programming included 
several media events, a lecture on American Studies, 
and a workshop on USG information sources.  Post also 
recorded positive results from media support for the 
visit of the Secretary of State, a press roundtable 
with the Consul General, and key distribution of one 
of Post's Arabic books translations.  Summary reports 
follow. Reftel is post's most recent prior submission 
for NEA/PPD reporting and IIP's PD results database. 
 
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RESULTS 
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(6/28/05) MISSION PROMOTES ECONOMIC REFORM THROUGH 
MEDIA COVERAGE OF USAID SPONSORED CONFERENCE 
Mission press offices ensured strong media attend at a 
two-day USAID-sponsored conference on economic reform. 
USAID Deputy Director also participated in a press 
roundtable following her speech at the conference.  As 
a result, positive articles appeared in leading daily 
newspapers and financial dailies. 
 
MPP GOAL: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY 
 
(06/20/05) EMBASSY MEDIA OUTREACH SUPPORTS VISIT OF 
SECRETARY OF STATE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
To promote the Secretary's message during her visit 
to Cairo, the Embassy Public Affairs Section arranged 
for over 100 local and international media to attend 
the Secretary's speech at the American University of 
Cairo, and scheduled one-on-one television interviews 
with one local and one pan-Arab station.  All 
Egyptian papers, radio stations, and television 
stations covered the Secretary's visit and published 
or aired segments of her speech.  CNN, Fox, Al 
Jazeera, and Egyptian Nile News carried the speech 
live. 
 
MPP GOAL: DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
(06/18/05) POST PLACES EDITORIAL ON TRAFFICKING IN 
PERSONS IN EGYPTIAN PAPER 
 
Despite editors' concerns about the Egypt-specific 
content, Embassy Press Office obtained a commitment 
to publish an editorial by Under Secretary Paula 
Dobriansky on the occasion of the distribution of the 
Trafficking in Persons Report.  The editorial 
appeared in the June 18 edition of Nahdet Misr. 
 
MPP GOAL: DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
(06/09/05) POST FACILITATES MEDIA COVERAGE OF VISITING 
DEPUTY USTR 
 
The Embassy's Press Office arranged one TV and two 
print interviews, including one with Egypt's leading 
economic newspaper Al-Alam Al-Youm, with Deputy U.S. 
Trade Representative Peter Allgeier during his 
participation in the Third African Union Conference of 
Ministers of Trade.  Al Alam Al Youm led with the 
interview in its June 11 edition.  The DUSTR spoke in- 
depth about USG Intellectual Property Rights concerns 
in Egypt and the process of reaching a Free Trade 
Agreement (FTA) with Egypt, and encouraged Egypt's 
economic reform process.  At the end of the 
conference, the DUSTR spoke to a large body of 
international and Egyptian reporters at a press 
conference with the Egyptian Minister of Trade and the 
EU Trade Commissioner, encouraging regional economic 
reforms and stating the USG position on cotton and 
agricultural subsidies. 
 
MPP GOAL: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY 
 
(06/07/05) EMBASSY REAFFIRMS AMERICAN WELCOME FOR 
FOREIGN STUDENTS 
 
The Embassy Press Office arranged for eight Egyptian 
journalists to spend an hour with the Consul General, 
who drew attention to the Consular Section's special 
procedures for Egyptians applying for student visas. 
The Consul General reaffirmed the U.S. Government's 
interest in facilitating foreigners' study in the U.S. 
The discussion also included a review of the "Open 
Doors, Secure Borders" policy.  As a result, articles 
appeared in several Egyptian dailies and magazines, 
including pan-Arab Al Sharq Al Awsat, and the Egyptian 
Internet news site Masrawy.  These articles, in turn, 
sparked interest among other media outlets, including 
The Daily Star, Cairo Magazine, and Business Today, 
all of whom subsequently published articles 
highlighting Post's efforts to facilitate the visa 
process for Egyptian students and business people. 
 
MPP GOAL: MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING 
 
(06/02/05) POST HIGHLIGHTS MULTINATIONAL COOPERATION 
TO SUPPORT REBUILDING OF IRAQ 
In support of a Cairo meeting of the Iraq Core Group, 
the Embassy's Press Office arranged a press conference 
for the U.S., EU, and Iraqi delegation leaders at the 
end of the session.  Media attendees included pan-Arab 
Al Arabiya, local Nile TV, the Associated Press, 
Nikkei News, the Middle East News Agency, and Egyptian 
Radio.  Following the press conference, Al Arabiya, 
the AP, and Nile TV were granted one-on-one interviews 
with the Iraqi delegation leader and, separately, USG 
representative Ambassador Dick Jones.  The resulting 
stories were well placed. 
 
MPP GOAL: REGIONAL STABILITY 
 
(05/19/05)  EMBASSY SPARKS INTEREST IN "THE WEALTH OF 
KNOWLEDGE" 
 
In support of Post's Regional Arabic Book Translation 
Program, the Information Resource Center distributed 
the recently published Arabic translation of Thomas A. 
Stewart's "The Wealth of Knowledge" to numerous media 
contacts and high level academics.  As a result, the 
prominent Sabah el Kheir (Good Morning) magazine ran a 
series of positive commentaries on the book 
 
MPP GOAL: DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
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ACTIVITIES 
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(06/30/05) POST HIGHLIGHTS PROGRESS ON SUDAN FOR 
EGYPTIAN AUDIENCES 
 
During the visit of Senior State Department 
representative for Sudan Charles Snyder, Post 
organized an exclusive interview with the African 
Affairs editor of the widely read Al Akhbar newspaper. 
Snyder discussed progress made toward a lasting peace 
in southern Sudan, highlighted Egypt's positive role 
in encouraging peace and development in Sudan, and 
clarified U.S. policy on Darfur.  After a meeting with 
the Arab League Secretary General, Synder gave remarks 
to several Sudanese reporters highlighting the U.S. 
Government's hopes for a united and democratic Sudan. 
 
MPP GOAL: REGIONAL STABILITY 
 
(06/29/05) EMBASSY ENCOURAGES CONTINUED EXCHANGE OF 
YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS 
 
In recognition of the ECA-funded AIESEC "Salaam 
Program," the Embassy hosted an evening of cultural 
exchange for the Egyptian and American students and 
the Egyptian host businesses.  The reception provided 
a rich opportunity for young student leaders from 
Egypt and the United States to meet and exchange 
viewpoints, and included a briefing on the economic 
situation in Egypt by an Embassy economic officers. 
Over the past two years, 13 Egyptians have traveled to 
the US on the Salaam Program and 35 Americans have 
traveled to Egypt to pursue traineeships in business, 
development, education, and technical fields. 
 
MPP GOAL: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY 
 
(06/27/05) POST FACILITATES IN-DEPTH LOOK AT OPIC 
GOALS 
 
Taking advantage of a visit to Egypt by the 
Communications Director for the Overseas Private 
Investment Corporation (OPIC), the Embassy Press 
Office organized a press roundtable with two leading 
Egyptian economic reporters.  The reporters - one from 
a large circulation English-language weekly and one 
from Egypt's most prominent economic daily  spent an 
hour discussing economic reform in Egypt, an OPIC 
conference on North African business development 
planned this September in Morocco, and USG-GOE 
economic relations.  The reporters will soon publish 
two in-depth articles profiling OPIC's work to 
advocate economic reform and investment in Egypt. 
 
MPP GOAL: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY 
 
(06/27/05) MISSION PROMOTES AMERICAN STUDIES WITH 
UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS 
 
Embassy Cairo, in cooperation with the Fulbright 
Commission, sponsored a presentation by an Egyptian 
professor following her post-funded attendance at the 
Annual Conference of the British American Studies 
Association in Cambridge, England, in May.  The 
presentation, a briefing on the conference and a 
discussion of the variety of subjects included in 
American Studies, was attended by an audience of 
academics from the major universities in Cairo, as 
well as a number of faculty from several of the 
regional universities. The highly informative and 
well-prepared presentation, and the lively exchange 
that ensued, provided excellent support to Post 
efforts to heighten interest in American Studies 
within Egyptian universities. 
 
MPP GOAL: MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING 
 
(06/04/05-06/25/05) EMBASSY FUNDS TRAVEL OF EGYPTIAN 
JOURNALISTS TO COVER ELECTIONS IN LEBANON 
 
Using local-Embassy funds, Post sponsored the travel 
of seven Egyptian journalists to Lebanon to cover the 
June parliamentary elections.  The print reporters 
have published over a dozen articles to date, with 
more planned, and the TV crew is putting together a 
feature piece on the elections.  Reporting highlighted 
Lebanon's ethnic and religious diversity, allegations 
of corruption and intimidation at polling places, as 
well as the lively political debate in Lebanon.  In a 
debriefing following their visit, the reporters 
affirmed that the opportunity to conduct first-hand 
reporting on Lebanon's elections will allow them to 
better cover Egypt's own presidential and 
parliamentary elections later this year. 
 
MPP GOAL: DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
(06/22/05) AMERICAN CENTER HOSTS WORKSHOP ON THE ROLE 
OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIONS IN DEVELOPING 
THE SKILLS OF HOUSEHOLDS HEADED BY WOMEN 
 
The American Center in Alexandria, in collaboration 
with the Friends of the VOA Club and El Reyada 
Association for Community Development, organized a 
workshop on "Role of Community Development 
Associations in Developing the Skills of Women Heading 
Households."  The workshop attracted a diverse 
audience of 65 individuals, including NGO staff, the 
head of the Social Development Fund, the head of the 
Doctors Syndicate, and Ministry of Social Affairs 
officials. 
 
MPP GOAL: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY 
 
(06/14/05) MISSION CELEBRATES INDEPENDENCE DAY AND 
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY IN ALEXANDRIA 
 
In an early celebration of American Independence Day, 
the Mission hosted a reception on Flag Day (June 14) 
at the American Center in Alexandria that featured a 
speech by the Charge d'Affaires.  Alexandria 
Television Channel 5 and Radio Alexandria conducted 
interviews with the Charge and other guests.  Articles 
commenting on the program appeared in national and 
opposition newspapers, while the TV and radio stations 
aired clips of the speech and their interviews. 
 
MPP GOAL: DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
(05/24/05) EMBASSY MEDIA OUTREACH SUPPORTS VISIT OF 
FIRST LADY 
 
Throughout the visit of First Lady Laura Bush, the 
Embassy facilitated extensive local, regional, and 
international media coverage of all aspects of her 
visit to Cairo and Alexandria.  The resulting press 
coverage was comprehensive and generally positive in 
all outlets.  Following the visit, the Embassy's 
Information Resource Center extended the impact of 
the First Lady's visit by distributing dossiers about 
the First Lady's participation in the WEF, as well as 
her visit to Egypt.  These were distributed to the 
diplomatic community, academics, leading business 
figures, and government officials. 
 
MPP GOAL:  MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING 
 
(05/17/05) POST RAISES VISIBILITY OF EMBASSY AND IIP 
WEBSITES 
 
The Embassy's Information Resource Center conducted an 
Internet training workshop for journalists from three 
newspapers and one weekly magazine (Al Sharq Al Awsat, 
Al Watani, Gomhouriya, and Nusf al Duniya) that 
focuses on USG information available on the Bureau of 
International Information Programs websites. 
Journalists were so impressed that they requested 
additional, and longer, training.  They were 
especially curious about IIP's Identifying 
Misinformation webpage, as well as the International 
Events Calendar, both linked from IIP's portal page at 
usinfo.state.gov. 
 
MPP GOAL:  MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING 
 
CORBIN