US Embassy Cables: in 2009 “APRIL 6″ Leader talks with US Congress about Maher ties to Freedom House

“APRIL 6″ LEADER PLANS U.S. TRAVEL; DESCRIBES MOVEMENT IN DISARRAY

Ref ID: 09CAIRO695
Date: 2009-04-23 15:45
Origin: Embassy Cairo
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL

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TAGS: PHUM KDEM EG
SUBJECT: “APRIL 6″ LEADER PLANS U.S. TRAVEL; DESCRIBES
MOVEMENT IN DISARRAY

REF: A. CAIRO 591
B. CAIRO 580
C. CAIRO 468
D. 08 CAIRO 2572

Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor
Catherine Hill-Herndon for reason 1.4 (d).

1. (C) On April 22, “April 6 Movement” leader Ahmed Saleh told us that he plans to travel to Washington from May 2 to May 9 to testify in a May 7 Congressional hearing on a draft resolution on human rights in Egypt sponsored by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA). Saleh said that Dina Guirgis of the Washington-based NGO “Voices for a Democratic Egypt (VDE)” is working to schedule meetings for him with Congress, and VDE will provide him with accommodation. Saleh believes that Egyptian activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim is “personally” funding Saleh’s plane travel to the U.S. Saleh requested assistance in setting up meetings with USG officials so he can “explain the importance of democracy in Egypt.”

2. (C) According to Saleh, the “April 6 Movement” is in increasing disarray. Saleh said that Islamist members, such as Labor Party activist Dia Isawi, are accusing him and secular “April 6″ leader Ahmed Maher of “treason” for their association with the U.S. NGO Freedom House, which Isawi views as a “Zionist organization.”

(Note: Saleh is secular and is allied with Ahmed Maher in advocating a secular orientation for “April 6.” End note.)

Saleh noted that the Islamist members held a mock trial of Ahmed Maher for ”treason” into the early morning hours of April 22 after obtaining Freedom House documents detailing planned funding of “April 6 activities.” Saleh said that as a result of this internal “April 6″ strife, programming with Freedom House is now “impossible.” Saleh speculated that Isawi might be working as an agent for State Security.

3. (C) Saleh noted that youth activists from the secular Ghad party are also accusing him and Ahmed Maher of “treason” because of their contacts with Freedom House. Saleh claimed that the prominent blogger Wael Abbas is working with Dia Isawi to undermine the secular “April 6″ leadership so that Abbas can claim the mantle of internet activism for himself. According to Saleh, Abbas has threatened to post information about Saleh and Maher’s links to Freedom House on his blog. Saleh told us he is still planning to establish an ”underground” secular wing of “April 6″ (ref C).

4. (C) In a separate meeting April 23, Wael Abbas criticized ”April 6″ leader Ahmed Maher as weak and the movement as disorganized, but did not voice any support for Isawi.

(Comment: We do not believe that Abbas wants to dominate other internet activists, as Saleh suggested. Abbas has worked closely with other activists in the past, and has expressed to us his hope that more internet activists will participate in political life. End comment.)

-SCOBEY

Source: WikiLeaks

US Embassy Cables: in 2009 “APRIL 6″ tells US GOV they kicked out Islamists before elections & supports Ayman Nour

“APRIL 6″ MOVEMENT CONSOLIDATES RANKS, LOOKS TOWARD COMING ELECTIONS

Ref ID: 09CAIRO1464
Date: 2009-07-30 13:45
Origin: Embassy Cairo
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL

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TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM EG
SUBJECT: “APRIL 6″ MOVEMENT CONSOLIDATES RANKS, LOOKS TOWARD COMING ELECTIONS

REF: A. CAIRO 695
B. CAIRO 591
C. CAIRO 580
D. CAIRO 468
E. 08 CAIRO 2572
F. 08 CAIRO 697

Classified By: Economic-Political Minister-Counselor Donald A. Blome for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

1. KEY POINTS

– (C) “April 6″ movement leader Ahmed Saleh told us July 26 that the group has ejected Islamist and Nasserist members to try to preserve its secular, western orientation.

– (C) Saleh urged U.S. pressure on the GOE for international monitors for the 2010 and 2011 elections. He is planning to travel to the U.S. with Ayman Nour in October to press for international monitors.

– (C) According to Saleh, a U.S.-based Freedom House official recently received a letter from the Egyptian MFA criticizing the organization’s association with Saleh.

– (C) Meeting us for the first time July 28, “April 6″ coordinator Ahmed Maher said the group is open to working with secular opposition parties on voter education and other activities.

2. (C) Background: “April 6″ is a small, youth-based movement which advocates replacing the current regime through a peaceful transition to democracy that would include a weak presidency and an empowered parliament and prime minister.
The movement organized a largely successful strike in Cairo on April 6, 2008 through Facebook to protest price increases and political and economic conditions (ref F). Following the strike, the GOE has arrested and tortured “April 6″ members, and has prevented the group from staging public demonstrations (ref E). End background.

——————————————–
Cleaning House: Islamists and Nasserists Out
——————————————–

3. (C) Saleh told us July 26 that the group ejected 13 Islamist and Nasserist members the previous day in an attempt to consolidate its secular, western orientation. Saleh had told us previously that these members had tried to hijack ”April 6,” and turn it into a Islamist movement opposing the west and rejecting Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel (refs A, D). Saleh said that following the ouster, “April 6″ published a new “manifesto” on its Facebook page, reaffirming the group’s interest in working with western countries and organizations. Saleh assessed that the movement would now be more internally “harmonious,” but that the ousted members would try to attack the group from the outside. He predicted that thousands of young Egyptians would join “April 6″ now that the movement has resolved its internal issues.

——————————————— —
“April 6″ Looking Toward 2010 and 2011 Elections
——————————————— —

4. (C) Saleh said “April 6″ is now focusing on the 2010 parliamentary and 2011 presidential elections. He asked for U.S. pressure on the GOE to allow international monitors as the only way of ensuring free and fair elections and open campaigns. He asserted that the political opposition would only be able to operate freely under such conditions, as the GOE would otherwise use the Emergency Law to prevent campaigning. Saleh noted that he had made this point to USG,Congressional and NGO interlocutors during his June-July trip to the U.S. Saleh said he is also coordinating his actions with Saad Eddin Ibrahim.

5. (C) Saleh asserted that free and fair elections as part of a gradual non-violent transition to democracy would be the only way to address Egypt’s acute economic and political problems. He said that “April 6″ plans an internet voter education campaign to decrease voter apathy, and wants to stage street demonstrations to support this goal. However, he predicted the GOE would prevent such demonstrations.
According to Saleh, “April 6″ members are currently not planning to run for seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections, but he noted that this calculus could change if the elections were “more open.” Saleh stressed that if movement members chose to run, they would do so as independents, not as opposition party candidates.

6. (C) “April 6″ Coordinator Ahmed Maher told us July 28 that the group is open to working with secular opposition parties such as Al-Ghad, the Democratic Front and Anwar Esmat Sadat’s nascent Reform and Development Party on voter education and other activities such as anti-corruption initiatives. Maher said he is working to establish an organizational structure for the group that would include a Cairo-based coordinating committee overseeing smaller chapters in each governorate.
(Note: This was our first meeting with Maher who was arrested and tortured following the April 6, 2008 strike, and tries to keep a low profile. End note.)

——————————–
New Coordination with Ayman Nour
——————————–

7. (C) Saleh said he is working with former opposition presidential candidate Ayman Nour on a planned October 1-7 visit the U.S. to urge the USG to press for international election monitors. Saleh said that he, Nour and another opposition politician would travel together. Saleh told us he is working with U.S.-based Egyptians such as Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Dina Guirgis of Voices for a Democratic Egypt and Sherif Mansour of Freedom House to coordinate an Ayman Nour trip focused on monitors. He said Guirgis is the lead U.S.-based coordinator for the trip. According to Saleh, Saad Eddin Ibrahim travelled to Europe in mid-July to urge European officials to press for international monitors.

8. (C) Saleh told us that “April 6″ would support Nour as a presidential candidate in 2011 if he were able to run. Saleh noted that he recently began discussions with Nour about future coordination with “April 6″ to achieve democratic change. He described Nour as slightly “unbalanced from his time in jail,” but voiced hope that Nour could be an agent of change in open 2011 presidential elections.

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Saleh’s U.S. Travel
——————-

9. (C) Saleh said that during his June-July travel to the U.S., a Washington-based Freedom House official told him that the Egyptian MFA had sent Freedom House a letter criticizing the organization’s relationship with Saleh. According to Saleh, the Freedom House official said the letter criticized Saleh as “an illegitimate opportunist seeking asylum in the U.S.” Saleh told us GOE customs searched him for 2 hours on July 20 at Cairo International Airport upon his return. He believed customs gave his papers to MOI State Security Investigative Services (SSIS) officers.

-Tueller

Source: WikiLeaks

In Photos:The Bloody Wednesday, Egypt’s Soccer Tragedy 01.02.2012

via Guardian & Rueters

NY Times: Overtures to Egypt’s Islamists Reverse Longtime U.S. Policy

Published: January 3, 2012. By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and STEVEN LEE MYERS

CAIRO — With the Muslim Brotherhood pulling within reach of an outright majority in Egypt’s new Parliament, the Obama administration has begun to reverse decades of mistrust and hostility as it seeks to forge closer ties with an organization once viewed as irreconcilably opposed to United States interests.

The administration’s overtures — including high-level meetings in recent weeks — constitute a historic shift in a foreign policy held by successive American administrations that steadfastly supported the autocratic government of President Hosni Mubarak in part out of concern for the Brotherhood’s Islamist ideology and historic ties to militants.

The shift is, on one level, an acknowledgment of the new political reality here, and indeed around the region, as Islamist groups come to power. Having won nearly half the seats contested in the first two rounds of the country’s legislative elections, the Brotherhood on Tuesday entered the third and final round with a chance to extend its lead to a clear majority as the vote moved into districts long considered strongholds.

The Academy of Change

The first mention of the Academy of Change (AOC) in relation to the Egyptian Revolution of 25 January, came in a Reuters report published on 13 April 2011, under the title of “Inside the Egyptian Revolution”.

In the report, Reuters stated that the Academy of Change was founded in London in 2005 by  Hisham Morsy, Wael Adel, and Adel’s cousin Ahmed Adel, and that the Academy moved to Qatar later on. Reuters claims that the AOC was involved in training Egyptian dissidents (Kefaya and April 6 Youth among others) ever since 2005. Reuters also claims that the Academy is one of those involved in the planning of the events that took place Tahrir, and the training of the revolutionaries, through a vague character with the name “Saad Bahaar“.

Reuters report wrote: 

“Inspired by the way Serbian group Otpor had brought down Slobodan Milosevic through non-violent protests in 2000, the trio studied previous struggles. One of their favorite thinkers was Gene Sharp, a Boston-based academic who was heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. The group had set up a webpage in 2004 to propagate civil disobedience ideas in Arabic.

At first, the three young Egyptians’ activities were purely theoretical. But in November 2005, Wael Adel came to Cairo to give a three-day training session on civil disobedience. In the audience were about 30 members of Kefaya, an anti-Mubarak protest group whose name means “enough” in Arabic. Kefaya had gained prominence during the September 2005 presidential elections which Mubarak won by a landslide. During these protests, they had been attacked by thugs and some women members had been stripped naked. Bahaar joined Adel on the course and his career as an underground trainer in non-violent activism was born.

Arab & Western Mercenaries train at an Israeli Security Academy

A report published by the BBC on 26 May 2011, and other news networks, claims that in the post Arab Spring Middle East, Arab youth have been training at a dubious institution called the International Security Academy (ISA), run by ex-Israeli Secret Service Officer Mirza David, and located in Negev Desert (al-Naqab) near Gaza, on the Egyptian-Israeli border, close to where the last border clashes killed three Egyptian Officers in August 2011.

The video below, is from the Academy’s YouTube channel, and it shows a group of men wearing the traditional Arab Bedouin garments and are being trained on High skilled military operations in the Negev desert in an Israeli military base.

The graduates of the Academy are highly trained militants who are ready to work for the highest bidder, the call them selves Private Security Personnel, but the most common name for their line of work is Mercenaries or Guns for Hire, and are able to operate in Arab States.

When asked if he was in fact training mercenaries, Mirza David, the founder and owner of the Israeli International Security Academy, answered: “The term mercenary is a nonsense, it is finished”.

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The Academy’s training course lasts for seven weeks, and aims to train participants on high risk combat in the Arab and Islamic world, especially in light of turmoil in the region. As well as training on combat arts, firearms and sniper rifles, the trainees also train on the arts of camouflage, and training to dress and talk like native Arabs for reasons of undercover operations.

According to the academy, a large number of Arab youth participated in the training sessions, including Iraqis, Egyptians, Lebanese, as well as other Arab and African nationalities.

The video interview shows one of those Arabs, a Lebanese trainee, only identifying himself as Julian, and who refused to reveal his real name or face, from behind an Arab Headdress, Julian says of his training at the ISA: “Only the best can train here with the best“.

Sources:
BBC
Salem News
People Daily
AllVioces.com

This Article is also Available in Arabic on AnarchitexT Arabic

So you want a revolution: Meet the man who gives you the revolution!

Question: what do the so-called “colour” revolutions – Georgia (2003) and Ukraine (2004), and

the rest – have in common with the uprising that drove Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak from power? Answer: the great majority of the people involved avoided committing acts of violence; and the organisers took advice from a young Serbianrevolutionary called Srdja Popovic and his colleagues.

For many of us, the way that one deeply embedded Middle Eastern dictatorship after another has collapsed this year is a baffling mystery. But for Popovic, tall, lean and brimming with vitality, it was no great surprise. “How do we see political power?” he asks. “Mainly we see power as the state wants us to, as a monolith. So we believe power is fixed; and nothing can change except the people at the top.” But at an age when he was still tender enough to do something with the information, Popovic (pictured right) discovered that power is not like that. “The true nature of power is very different. In a society, power can change very swiftly. It can become fragile and can be redistributed, especially in non-democratic regimes… Ultimately, power in society comes from the obedience of the people. And those people – each of whom is individually a small source of power – can change their minds, and refuse to follow commands.”