Viewing cable 08CAIRO2572, APRIL 6 ACTIVIST ON HIS U.S. VISIT AND REGIME

Viewing cable 08CAIRO2572, APRIL 6 ACTIVIST ON HIS U.S. VISIT AND REGIME

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Reference ID	Created	Classification	Origin
08CAIRO2572	2008-12-30 09:09	SECRET	Embassy Cairo

VZCZCXRO6679
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #2572/01 3650909
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 300909Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1233
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 002572 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ELA, R, S/P AND H 
NSC FOR PASCUAL AND KUTCHA-HELBLING 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/30/2028 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM EG
SUBJECT: APRIL 6 ACTIVIST ON HIS U.S. VISIT AND REGIME 
CHANGE IN EGYPT 
 
REF: A. CAIRO 2462 
     ¶B. CAIRO 2454 
     ¶C. CAIRO 2431 
 
Classified By: ECPO A/Mincouns Catherine Hill-Herndon for reason 1.4 (d 
). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary and comment:  On December 23, April 6 activist 
Ahmed Saleh expressed satisfaction with his participation in 
the December 3-5 "Alliance of Youth Movements Summit," and 
with his subsequent meetings with USG officials, on Capitol 
Hill, and with think tanks.  He described how State Security 
(SSIS) detained him at the Cairo airport upon his return and 
confiscated his notes for his summit presentation calling for 
democratic change in Egypt, and his schedule for his 
Congressional meetings.  Saleh contended that the GOE will 
never undertake significant reform, and therefore, Egyptians 
need to replace the current regime with a parliamentary 
democracy.  He alleged that several opposition parties and 
movements have accepted an unwritten plan for democratic 
transition by 2011; we are doubtful of this claim.  Saleh 
said that although SSIS recently released two April 6 
activists, it also arrested three additional group members. 
We have pressed the MFA for the release of these April 6 
activists.  April 6's stated goal of replacing the current 
regime with a parliamentary democracy prior to the 2011 
presidential elections is highly unrealistic, and is not 
supported by the mainstream opposition.  End summary and 
comment. 
 
---------------------------- 
Satisfaction with the Summit 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Saleh expressed satisfaction with the December 3-5 
"Alliance of Youth Movements Summit" in New York, noting that 
he was able to meet activists from other countries and 
outline his movement's goals for democratic change in Egypt. 
He told us that the other activists at the summit were very 
supportive, and that some even offered to hold public 
demonstrations in support of Egyptian democracy in their 
countries, with Saleh as an invited guest.  Saleh said he 
discussed with the other activists how April 6 members could 
more effectively evade harassment and surveillance from SSIS 
with technical upgrades, such as consistently alternating 
computer "simcards."  However, Saleh lamented to us that 
because most April 6 members do not own computers, this 
tactic would be impossible to implement.  Saleh was 
appreciative of the successful efforts by the Department and 
the summit organizers to protect his identity at the summit, 
and told us that his name was never mentioned publicly. 
 
------------------- 
A Cold Welcome Home 
------------------- 
 
¶3. (S) Saleh told us that SSIS detained and searched him at 
the Cairo Airport on December 18 upon his return from the 
U.S.  According to Saleh, SSIS found and confiscated two 
documents in his luggage:  notes for his presentation at the 
summit that described April 6's demands for democratic 
transition in Egypt, and a schedule of his Capitol Hill 
meetings.  Saleh described how the SSIS officer told him that 
State Security is compiling a file on him, and that the 
officer's superiors instructed him to file a report on 
Saleh's most recent activities. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
Washington Meetings and April 6 Ideas for Regime Change 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶4. (C) Saleh described his Washington appointments as 
positive, saying that on the Hill he met with Rep. Edward 
Royce, a variety of House staff members, including from the 
offices of Rep. Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Rep. Wolf (R-VA), and 
with two Senate staffers.  Saleh also noted that he met with 
several think tank members.  Saleh said that Rep. Wolf's 
office invited him to speak at a late January Congressional 
hearing on House Resolution 1303 regarding religious and 
political freedom in Egypt.  Saleh told us he is interested 
in attending, but conceded he is unsure whether he will have 
the funds to make the trip.  He indicated to us that he has 
not been focusing on his work as a "fixer" for journalists, 
due to his preoccupation with his U.S. trip. 
 
¶5. (C) Saleh described how he tried to convince his 
Washington interlocutors that the USG should pressure the GOE 
to implement significant reforms by threatening to reveal 
 
CAIRO 00002572  002 OF 002 
 
 
information about GOE officials' alleged "illegal" off-shore 
bank accounts.  He hoped that the U.S. and the international 
community would freeze these bank accounts, like the accounts 
of Zimbabwean President Mugabe's confidantes.  Saleh said he 
wants to convince the USG that Mubarak is worse than Mugabe 
and that the GOE will never accept democratic reform.  Saleh 
asserted that Mubarak derives his legitimacy from U.S. 
support, and therefore charged the U.S. with "being 
responsible" for Mubarak's "crimes."  He accused NGOs working 
on political and economic reform of living in a "fantasy 
world," and not recognizing that Mubarak -- "the head of the 
snake" -- must step aside to enable democracy to take root. 
 
¶6. (C) Saleh claimed that several opposition forces -- 
including the Wafd, Nasserite, Karama and Tagammu parties, 
and the Muslim Brotherhood, Kifaya, and Revolutionary 
Socialist movements -- have agreed to support an unwritten 
plan for a transition to a parliamentary democracy, involving 
a weakened presidency and an empowered prime minister and 
parliament, before the scheduled 2011 presidential elections 
(ref C).  According to Saleh, the opposition is interested in 
receiving support from the army and the police for a 
transitional government prior to the 2011 elections.  Saleh 
asserted that this plan is so sensitive it cannot be written 
down.  (Comment:  We have no information to corroborate that 
these parties and movements have agreed to the unrealistic 
plan Saleh has outlined.  Per ref C, Saleh previously told us 
that this plan was publicly available on the internet.  End 
comment.) 
 
¶7. (C) Saleh said that the GOE has recently been cracking 
down on the April 6 movement by arresting its members.  Saleh 
noted that although SSIS had released Ahmed Sharaf and Nour 
Hamdy "in the past few days," it had arrested three other 
members.  (Note:  On December 14, we pressed the MFA for the 
release of Sharaf and Hamdy, and on December 28 we asked the 
MFA for the GOE to release the additional three activists. 
End note.)  Saleh conceded that April 6 has no feasible plans 
for future activities.  The group would like to call for 
another strike on April 6, 2009, but realizes this would be 
"impossible" due to SSIS interference, Saleh said.  He 
lamented that the GOE has driven the group's leadership 
underground, and that one of its leaders, Ahmed Maher, has 
been in hiding for the past week. 
 
¶8. (C) Comment:  Saleh offered no roadmap of concrete steps 
toward April 6's highly unrealistic goal of replacing the 
current regime with a parliamentary democracy prior to the 
2011 presidential elections.  Most opposition parties and 
independent NGOs work toward achieving tangible, incremental 
reform within the current political context, even if they may 
be pessimistic about their chances of success.  Saleh's 
wholesale rejection of such an approach places him outside 
this mainstream of opposition politicians and activists. 
SCOBEY