Egypt told United States ambassador Margaret Scobey to Cairo that it was prepared to help resolve the Zimbabwe crisis but would not take sides.
Assistant Foreign Minister for American Affairs Hatem Seif al Nasser said Egypt’s approach to Zimbabwe was to support continued talks between President Robert Mugabe and the opposition, and urged both sides to reach a mutually acceptable resolution.
He noted that President Hosni Mubarak, during his July 28-30 trip to South Africa, received opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai:
“This fact alone is a good sign, as there is a sitting president, Mugabe.”
Pressed by the ambassador that there should be a transitional arrangement that respected the will of the Zimbabwean people, Nasser replied that Egypt wanted to be helpful, but “we will not take sides …. We can offer a role that you cannot, treading the middle ground”.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 08CAIRO1716, SENIOR MFA OFFICIAL ON ZIMBABWE AND EGYPTIAN
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 |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO5460
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #1716/01 2201120
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 071120Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0173
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 001716
SIPDIS
NSC FOR PASCUAL
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM KIRF PHUM ZI EG
SUBJECT: SENIOR MFA OFFICIAL ON ZIMBABWE AND EGYPTIAN
DOMESTIC POLITICAL ISSUES
REF: A. STATE 79617
¶B. CAIRO 1193
¶C. CAIRO 1679
Classified By: Ambassador Margaret Scobey, for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).
¶1. (C) Summary: In a July 31 meeting with Hatem Seif al
Nasser, Assistant Foreign Minister for American Affairs, the
Ambassador pressed the GOE to play a constructive role with
Zimbabwe, to help ensure that March 29 election results are
respected. A wide-ranging discussion on Egyptian internal
political, sectarian, and human rights issues followed,
during which Nasser assured the Ambassador that a substantive
debate will occur before the planned new media broadcasting
law is passed, that the government and the Coptic Church are
working constructively to resolve the Abu Fanaa monastery
issue, and urged the USG to “just leave the Ayman Nour issue
alone, and then it will solve itself.” End summary.
¶2. (C) The Ambassador, per ref A instructions, delivered
talking points on Zimbabwe. Nasser replied that Egypt’s
approach is to support continued talks between President
Mugabe and the opposition, and urge both sides to reach a
mutually acceptable resolution. He noted that President
Mubarak, during his July 28-30 trip to South Africa, received
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai: “This fact alone is a
good sign, as there is a sitting president, Mugabe.” The
Ambassador pressed that there should be a transitional
arrangement that respects the will of the Zimbabwean people,
to which Nasser replied that Egypt wants to be helpful, but
“we will not take sides …. We can offer a role that you
cannot, treading the middle ground.”
¶3. (C) Queried by the Ambassador as to why several Facebook
activists had been detained on July 23 (ref C), Nasser
professed ignorance of the issue, and promised to look into
the details. The Ambassador also raised a possible new media
broadcasting law, which has been mentioned in the Egyptian
press recently as likely to be put before parliament in the
late fall. The Ambassador urged that the new law not
restrict Egypt’s lively and burgeoning press. She said that
the new communications technologies used by Egypt’s youth and
others are positive, and that Egypt’s young people should be
encouraged to express themselves through these “healthy”
means, rather than left with only extremism as an outlet. The
Ambassador stressed that rather than broadly defining illegal
actions, the new law should instead very narrowly delineate
banned media activities, such as pornography. Nasser assured
her that there will be a “long debate on this law, and it
will certainly change from its current draft.”
¶4. (C) The Ambassador inquired about the latest developments
in resolving the Abu Fanaa monastery dispute (ref B), in
which monks at the monastery and local Muslims claim the same
land as theirs. Nasser said that the GOE has been working
constructively with Coptic Pope Shenouda on the issue, who is
playing a “very positive role” and is helping to forestall
similar problems in the future. Noting that “there have been
mistakes on both sides,” Nasser said that the issue is “being
handled, but is not yet solved.” Nasser emphasized that the
issue is fundamentally a land dispute, which is normal in
Egypt: “Confrontations over property happen every day here.
The only reason this one got attention is because it involves
Muslims and Christians.”
¶5. (C) After the Ambassador queried him regarding the state
of play on the “Unified Building Law for Religious
Buildings,” which would create uniform regulations for the
construction of mosques and churches, rather than the
separate procedures which currently apply, Nasser said that
the law is “very much on the agenda” and is “being debated
intensively internally.” He termed the law, and overall
Christian-Muslim relations, as “Egypt’s most important
challenge, because it is about who we are.”
¶6. (C) In response to the Ambassador’s expressing USG
disappointment that former opposition party leader Ayman Nour
was not released from prison in a July 23 amnesty, Nasser
said that “this matter is better left alone. If you leave it
alone, it will solve itself.” The Ambassador parried that
the USG had indeed remained quiet publicly for some time
regarding Nour prior to July 23, to no apparent effect.
Musing about the “regrettable” likelihood that Congress will
in 2009 again place conditions on some of the ESF assistance
for Egypt, Nasser said that the Egyptian internal political
and human rights issues that the USG raises are “important,
but are crowding out bilateral discussion of more strategic
issues. They take up so much of our time and energy, and the
end result is that we are distracted from talking enough
CAIRO 00001716 002 OF 002
about our mutual vision for the future.” The Ambassador
agreed that a broader USG-GOE strategic dialogue should be
re-invigorated, but stressed that a discussion of domestic
Egyptian political and human rights issues would be a
necessary part of that discussion.
SCOBEY
(5355 VIEWS)
