US embassy cable - 05CAIRO5245

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 005245 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NEA/PD for Finver; NEA/P; Beirut for Wurr 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KPAO, LE, EG 
SUBJECT:  EGYPTIAN JOURNALISTS SUCCESSFULLY COVER LEBANESE 
ELECTIONS WITH POST FUNDING 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  In anticipation of Egypt's 
presidential and parliamentary elections later this year, 
post funded the travel of seven Egyptian TV and print 
journalists to cover Lebanon's June parliamentary 
elections.  The traveling journalists focused their 
reporting on Lebanon's religious diversity, the role of 
Syria in the country's affairs, and sectarian tensions. 
Upon their return, all journalists spoke favorably about 
the "vibrancy" of Lebanon's political scene, with a few 
candidly lamenting the lack of similar political activity 
among Egyptians.  All journalists commented that they 
looked forward to covering Egypt's elections using what 
they learned in Lebanon.  In addition to providing the 
journalists with a professional development opportunity, 
post funded their travel to meet the Mission's objectives 
of promoting democratic reform and good governance in 
Egypt.  However, whether the returning journalists will be 
able to cover Egypt's elections with the same candor and 
openness that they applied in their coverage of Lebanon 
will depend on their editors and existing 'red lines' in 
the Egypt press.  End summary. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Post sponsored the travel of seven Egyptian 
print and TV journalists to cover Lebanon's June 
parliamentary elections.  The purpose was to allow them to: 
 
-- accurately portray to the Egyptian public high-profile 
parliamentary elections taking place in a neighboring Arab 
country; 
-- learn more about the electoral process first-hand from 
direct observation; and 
-- gain valuable field experience and interact with members 
of the international media present in Lebanon so that, when 
the journalists returned home to Egypt, they would be 
better prepared to cover their own country's elections 
scheduled for this fall. 
 
The journalists were chosen based on the quality of their 
political affairs reporting and willingness to travel to 
Lebanon.  Sponsoring these seven journalists addressed the 
Mission's objectives of promoting democratic reform and 
good governance in Egypt. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Nabil Rashwan, a correspondent with independent 
daily Nahdet Masr (circulation: 20,000), visited Lebanon 
May 28 to June 3, during the first round of elections in 
Beirut, and has since published eight articles.  Besides 
profiling election developments, his reporting emphasized 
the role of the international community in helping to make 
Lebanon's elections possible and behind-the-scenes 
coalition building among political parties.  In a meeting 
with PA officer on June 8, Rashwan related, "It was like 
watching a group of shareholders voting on the future of 
their company.  Lebanon is like a company made up of many 
shareholders  none of whom have a majority stake.  But 
Egypt," Rashwan continued, "is like a company with just one 
shareholder that resents any outside involvement because it 
interferes with the 'profits.'" 
 
4.  (SBU)  Khaled Salah, a leading correspondent with pro- 
government weekly magazine Al-Ahram Al-Arabi (circulation: 
10,000), visited Lebanon during the third round of 
elections.  Salah's reporting focused on the positive role 
international election monitors played during Lebanon's 
elections and the divisions between Lebanese religious 
groups.  Salah met with PA officer on June 22 and explained 
his impressions of Lebanon's elections.  "While I think it 
was good for the Lebanese to vote," he said, "they are 
still ruled by sectarian problems, and there is still 
Syrian influence behind the scenes."  Salah stated that 
Egypt's upcoming parliamentary elections  like Lebanon's 
would be key to Egypt's future.  "If we can have a more 
open parliament after Egypt's elections, we would have more 
change for reform -- like in Lebanon now, where they will 
surely change laws after the elections."  Of note, Salah 
explained that one of the articles he wrote, critical of 
Syrian involvement in Lebanon, would not be published by 
Al-Ahram Al-Arabi:  "The pro-government press has a red 
line when it comes to Syria," he explained.  "Egypt does 
not criticize Syria and they do not criticize us." 
 
5.  (SBU)  Mohamed Al-Noubi, a foreign affairs 
correspondent with leading pro-government daily Al-Ahram 
(circulation: 750,000), traveled to Lebanon during the 
fourth and final round of elections.  Al-Noubi was able to 
arrange interviews with formerly exiled general Michel Aoun 
and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.  Both interviews were 
published in Al-Ahram's June 27 issue.  Both Aoun and 
Jumblatt stressed the need for strengthening Lebanon's rule 
of law, ensuring security for all religious and political 
groups, and abiding by the 1989 Taif agreement.  Al-Noubi 
reported to PA officers, "I was impressed by the vitality 
of Lebanese society.  The Lebanese wanted to vote!  They 
are involved politically!  This doesn't happen in Egypt 
right now," he lamented. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Amel Fawzi, a reporter with the popular weekly 
women's magazine Nisf Al-Dunia (circulation: 50,000), 
traveled to Lebanon during the third and fourth rounds of 
the elections.  Fawzi printed her first story on June 26. 
The article, "The Lebanese Chose Saad Al-Hariri In Spite of 
Aoun," highlighted the diverse "rainbow-like" quality of 
Lebanese society and the lack of tensions between Muslims 
and Christians, while pointing to ongoing "political 
repression" and Michel Aoun's allegations that Al-Hariri's 
party bought votes to win.  Fawzi published two more 
interviews in the magazine's July 3 issue, one with Aoun 
and another with Naila Moawad, former first lady of Lebanon 
and winner of a parliamentary seat in the elections.  In 
her interview with Fawzi, Moawad explained her ambitions to 
become the Arab world's first elected female president, 
saying, "Women have few opportunities outside the family, 
because this is a man's society.  Still, Lebanon is the 
only Arab country that can have a woman as president. 
Expect to see me fighting for a nomination to become 
President." 
 
7.  (SBU)  A Video Cairo crew also traveled to Lebanon 
during the fourth round of elections to film a documentary 
about how the Arab media covered them.  Video Cairo 
producer Michael Shagoury reported to PA Officer that his 
crew profiled reporters and producers from Iranian-funded 
satellite TV channel Al-Manar and Lebanese Future and LBC 
satellite TV channels, who were covering Lebanon's 
elections.  Shagoury's documentary - planned for release 
later this summer -- will also examine how the media 
influenced the success of the Lebanese elections and its 
role in "building a democracy." 
 
8.  (U)  One theme the journalists consistently raised with 
PA officers was the diversity and vibrancy of Lebanese 
society and its political scene.  All noted that Egypt 
lacks this level of political activity - with large 
demonstrations of thousands of people (Egyptian 
demonstrations usually numbering in hundreds) and campaign 
fliers and billboards for candidates posted throughout 
Lebanon.  Several reporters acknowledged that, as 
journalists, one of their main responsibilities is to 
encourage greater political awareness and participation 
through their coverage of elections and democratic reform 
in Egypt and elsewhere. 
 
9.  (SBU)  Comment:  While Post's sponsorship of these 
journalists was successful in ensuring balanced and largely 
positive press coverage about Lebanon's elections and in 
providing reporters with an opportunity for professional 
development, the effects of this program on reporters' 
coverage of Egypt's presidential and parliamentary 
elections remain to be seen.  Those reporters selected for 
this program have already proven themselves as capable and 
intelligent reporters.  However, as Khaled Salah hinted 
when he informed PA officer he could not publish anything 
critical of Syria (para 4), what journalists can or cannot 
report on Egypt's elections will ultimately be subjected to 
the approval of their editors -- many of whom were selected 
by the Mubarak government -- and the existing 'red lines' 
for the press. 
 
10.  (U)  Post would like to thank Embassy Beirut for its 
support and advice throughout this project.  The 
journalists appreciated the access they were given to the 
PAO.  End comment. 
 
CORBIN