Cablegate: Here Come the Candidates: Egyptian Media

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS CAIRO 006133

SIPDIS

NEA/PD FOR FRANK FINVER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PTER KPAO KMDR OPRC EG
SUBJECT: HERE COME THE CANDIDATES: EGYPTIAN MEDIA
THEMES, AUGUST 1 TO 8

1. Summary: The media reported at length on the
candidates who had registered for Egypt's presidential
elections. Although the pro-government media continued to
devote the majority of their coverage to Mubarak's
candidacy, they also gave prominent coverage to the
candidacies of two other politicians namely, Noaman Gomaa
of Al-Wafd and Ayman Nour of Al-Ghad. Throughout the week,
commentaries on the candidates and the electoral process
eclipsed all other issues. One TV program discussed the
subject of election monitoring, with two guests (both NDP
members) claiming it was not necessary. On another
subject, the same TV program also featured Al-Qaeda leader
Ayman Al-Zawahiri's uncle and an Egyptian Interior Ministry
official who claimed to have once interrogated Al-Zawahiri.
Though the guests found little they had little in common,
both agreed that Al-Zawahiri was a man of "bitterness" and
"revenge." End summary.

2. Presidential elections: While President Mubarak
continues to garner bold headlines and top-of-the-hour TV
coverage in the pro-government media, opposition and
independent candidates are receiving exposure (though still
limited in comparison). The Chairman of Al-Wafd, Noaman
Gomaa, appeared on Channel 2's popular program "Al-Bayt
Baytak" ("Make Yourself at Home") on August 3 to discuss
his candidacy. The head of the Tagamu' party appeared on
the same program to encourage Gomaa's candidacy and
criticized the pro-government media for covering Mubarak's
speeches "word by word." The headline in leading pro-
government daily Al-Ahram (circulation: 750,000) on August
7 read "Mubarak Promises to Increase Income and Job
Opportunities," followed by the subheading "Noaman Gomaa:
New Constitution, Abolish State Security, and Free all
Detainees. Ayman Nour: Abolish Laws Suppressing Freedom
and Write New Laws to Take Ministers to Court." Half of
the front page article was devoted to Mubarak and the
remaining space to Noaman Gomaa and Ayman Nour. Pro-
government daily Al-Akhbar (circulation: 800,000) printed
small photos and the names of 26 candidates on its August 7
front page. Ardently pro-government Al-Gomhouriya
(circulation: 500,000) focused on NDP Chairman Safwat El
Sherif's praise of Mubarak's "program for the future." The
most extensive coverage of candidates by an independent
newspaper appeared in Nahdet Masr (circulation: 20,000),
which last week profiled a different candidate, each day,
in a half-page spread on the third page.

3. Election monitors: "We don't need foreign intervention
in our elections. If there was an intention to hold
counterfeit elections, why did the President change the
Constitution in the first place?" reasoned the Dean of
Alexandria University and a NDP member on Dream TV's "10
p.m." program on August 7. Another guest, a professor of
International Law (and also an NDP member), claimed that
monitors were "not necessary," since existing legal
procedures "ensure fair elections." An Al-Wafd party
leader also appeared on the program, stating,
"International monitors are useless, as the government has
its own ways to counterfeit the elections that observers
won't notice." Media commentary on the issue of
international monitoring largely died down the past week,
replaced by discussions of the candidates and the electoral
process.

4. Terrorism: Dream TV's "10 p.m." program on August 7
also hosted Ayman Al-Zawahiri's uncle and lawyer, Mahfouz
Azam. Azam argued that his nephew "is defending Islamic
countries from U.S. occupation, such as in Afghanistan and
Iraq" and stated that "the way Egyptian security dealt with
him created bitterness in him." A former Assistant
Interior Minister who claimed that he once interrogated Al-
Zawahiri also appeared on the program. After saying that
Al-Zawahiri was a man "full of revenge," he attacked Al-
Qaeda for killing Muslim civilians. "Why don't they
operate against Israel, instead?" he argued. "They're the
biggest enemy of Islam." A columnist in opposition Al-Wafd
(circulation: 70,000) on August 7 criticized an Al-Jazeera
talk show for having hosted an Iraqi guest who supported
terrorism in Iraq. The same day, a conservative
commentator in Al-Ahram pleaded with religious institutions
to "play a more assertive role to take a stand against
terrorist ideology."

JONES

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