US embassy cable - 05CAIRO8136

UNCLAS CAIRO 008136 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, EG, SY, LE, MEPN, UNSC 
SUBJECT: SYRIA/LEBANON:  EGYPT "STILL STUDYING" MEHLIS 
REPORT 
 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please treat 
accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU) Senior Egyptian Presidency and MFA officials have 
so far offered minimal reaction to the Report of the 
International Independent Investigation Commission 
Established Pursuant to UNSCR 1595, otherwise known as the 
"Mehlis Report."  Presidential Spokesman Soliman Awad told 
the DCM during an October 21 conversation that Egypt "was 
studying the report thoroughly."  He did not provide a time 
when the GOE would respond in greater detail.  Awad, however, 
told reporters October 22 that the report "should not be read 
superficially" as it indicates that "the investigations are 
not yet over."  Awad also conveyed the message that the GOE 
was still "studying the report." 
 
2.  (SBU) Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, 
shortly after his October 21 return from Moscow and Vienna, 
provided a similar response to reporters saying only that the 
Mehlis report "should be read carefully and dealt with 
delicately, to avoid further tensions in the Middle East." 
MFA contacts repeated similar sentiments to poloff October 
23, suggesting Egypt would await results of UN Security 
Council deliberations on the Mehlis and Larsen reports before 
commenting more fully. 
 
 
RICCIARDONE