US embassy cable - 05CAIRO7450

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 007450 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/PD FOR FRANK FINVER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, KPAO, KMDR, OPRC, IZ, GZ, IS, EG, Media Themes 
SUBJECT:  AL-GHAD PARTY PUBLIC MELTDOWN CONTINUES: EGYPTIAN 
MEDIA THEMES, SEPTEMBER 19 TO 25 
 
REF:  CAIRO 7104 
 
1.  Summary:  Public infighting among members of opposition 
Al-Ghad Party continued, with two members engaged in a 
shouting match on a popular satellite TV program on 
September 20.  The same day, Al-Ghad Party leader Ayman 
Nour appeared on another TV program to accuse the 
government of trying to "destroy" the party and threaten 
the government with "retaliation."  Commentators continued 
to discuss the fate of Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni 
(reftel) and President Mubarak's refusal to accept his 
resignation.  A number of Egyptian commentators returned to 
the topic of U.S. policy in Iraq, with all condemning it. 
A columnist in the country's leading economic daily wrote 
on September 21 that U.S. involvement in Iraq was "a cover 
for a plan to colonize the region."  Commentators had 
little to say about Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and the 
ensuing confusion at the Rafah border crossing, though 
comments by A/S Welch to the House International Relations 
Committee were widely reported on in the pro-government 
media.  End summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Al-Ghad Party infighting continues in public 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  The public infighting at Opposition Al-Ghad Party 
continued (reftel).  Orbit TV's Al-Safwa channel broadcast 
a live interview with Ayman Nour on September 20, during 
which he threatened the Egyptian government with 
unspecified "retaliation" for trying to "destroy" his party 
before November's parliamentary elections.  "I prefer 
resorting to calm, but when some reckless people inside the 
regime play games, I say to them:  We will retaliate," Nour 
stated.  "We will not retaliate against their puppets, but 
against those for whom they work -- and they will suffer 
from what we will do to them."  Two Al-Ghad party members 
appeared on satellite channel Dream TV's popular program 
"10 p.m.," also on September 20, to discuss the party's 
recent infighting.  The two guests shouted insults at each 
other repeatedly during the interview, accusing each other 
of trying to ruin the party.  (Note:  After the two guests 
were finished, "10 p.m." announced the program was 
terminated "due to technical problems."  End note.)  On 
September 23 ardently pro-government Al-Gomhouriya 
(circulation: 200,000) reported that Nour's supporters 
attacked the "reformist elements" within the party, with 
several injuries resulting from the scuffle.  All major 
newspapers' crime pages reported that an investigation of 
the (physical) infighting was underway.  On September 24, 
pro-government weekly Akhbar Al-Youm (circulation: 
1,000,000) columnist and former board chairman, Ibrahim 
Saada, criticized the Egyptian media for highlighting "the 
conflicts inside political parties" and urged the NDP to 
"stop these reports, because they refute what we say about 
political movement in Egypt toward pluralism, and destroy 
Egypt's reputation." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
Minister of Culture's resignation refused; "We are all 
responsible" 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
3.  Commentaries criticizing the Minister of Culture Farouq 
Hosni continued in the media (reftel), as did conspiracy 
theories about why he resigned among PA contacts -- e.g., 
to protect another Ministry official or simply to give the 
public the appearance of responsibility when the Minister 
knew all along that Mubarak would not accept his 
resignation.  However, some commentators saw something more 
in the Minister's resignation than conspiracy theories. 
The editor-in-chief of opposition daily Al-Wafd 
(circulation: 50,000), Abbas Al-Tarabily, wrote on 
September 20, "Although the minister was morally 
responsible, we are all responsible with him.  We preoccupy 
ourselves with the big issues and neglect minor details, 
such as fire extinguishers."  A commentator in pro- 
government daily Al-Akhbar (circulation: 800,000) on 
September 21 -- referring to writer Naguib Mahfouz's public 
comment that Minister Farouq Hosni's resignation recalled 
the "good old days of democracy in Egypt" -- encouraged a 
"managerial revolution in all ministries and government 
agencies" in which "officials acknowledged responsibility 
for their shortcomings."  Dream TV's "10 P.M." hosted 
family members of the Beni Suef fire victims on September 
19, during which the family members criticized a local 
hospital and government security forces for their "grave 
carelessness" which led to the deaths of or additional harm 
to the injured. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Iraq violence blamed on America (again) 
---------------------------------------- 
4.  With presidential elections over and the Gaza 
withdrawal completed, commentators and news reports began 
to focus again on Iraq and to blame the U.S. for the 
country's violence.  On September 23, an unsigned editorial 
in Al-Gomhouriya characterized U.S. policy in Iraq as "a 
failure even before the invasion -- and it continues to be 
a failure."  A September 24 unsigned editorial in leading 
pro-government daily Al-Ahram (circulation: 750,000) 
claimed the situation in Iraq was "completely dangerous" 
and demanded that the U.S. set "a timetable for the 
occupation's withdrawal."  Both editorials predicted a 
civil war in Iraq.  The country's leading economic daily, 
the independent Al-Alam Al-Youm (circulation: 25,000), also 
published several commentaries critical of U.S. policy in 
Iraq, with one commentator opining on September 21, "The 
American adventure in Iraq has failed because it was a 
cover for a plan to colonize the region." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
Gaza withdrawal  Praise for Egypt 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
5.  On September 22, all government-controlled newspapers' 
front pages and TV newscasts reported on A/S Welch and 
General Ward's testimonies before the House International 
Relations Committee on September 21.  Al-Ahram's September 
22 banner headline read "Washington: Egypt's Role Vital in 
Successful Israeli Withdrawal from Gaza," with the ensuing 
article quoting General Ward as thanking Egypt for helping 
to assist Palestinian security forces.  The same article 
also quoted A/S Welch as saying that Israeli settlement 
expansion in the West Bank "must stop."  Commentary on the 
withdrawal and ensuing confusion at the Rafah border 
crossing was largely absent in the Egyptian media, with 
many commentators instead condemning Israeli PM Sharon's 
address to the UN (reftel).  One columnist in Al-Akhbar on 
September 20 wrote that Israel's withdrawal "has turned 
Gaza into an enormous prison for Palestinians."  The 
columnist continued, "This is how the Arab and Muslim world 
is accustomed to doing things -- making big concessions for 
practically nothing in return." 
 
JONES