US cables show Egyptian leader unready for reform
CAIRO: As clashes between police and protesters spread on Friday through Egypt, a series of leaked US diplomatic cables painted a gloomy picture of any willingness by President Hosni Mubarak to introduce meaningful reforms.
Mubarak, who would allow some changes unconnected with security, "generally views broader reforms as an invitation to extremism," one cable said.
The cables, dating from 2009 and 2010 and released by WikiLeaks, described Mubarak as a "classic Egyptian secularist who hates religious extremism and interference in politics."
They said he preferred a few individuals to suffer rather than risk chaos for society as a whole.
"We have heard him lament the results of earlier US efforts to encourage reform in the Islamic world," one cable said, adding that the US encouraged the shah of Iran to change "only to watch the country fall into the hands of revolutionary extremists.
"Wherever he has seen these US efforts, he can point to the chaos of loss of stability that ensued," pointing to Iraq, Palestinian elections which brought Hamas into power in 2006 and problems in Pakistan.
The Egyptian leader has supported some improvements in human rights and his wife, Suzanne Mubarak, has been given "a great deal of room to... advance women's and children's rights."
But "political reforms have stalled and the government has resorted to heavy-handed tactics against individuals and groups, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, whose influence continues to grow."
The cables described how the government began to tighten the political environment in 2009 ahead of parliamentary elections in 2010 and presidential elections in 2011.
They said Cairo suppressed critical opinion by turning "to an array of investigative authorities and public and private actions."
It worked "to flood the courts with suits against political enemies, using tactics such as fabricating assault charges against a journalist and filing a! profani ty case against a novelist."
Cairo also used security services to monitor and infiltrate the opposition and civil society, "and to suppress political opposition through arrests, harassment and intimidation," they said.
The cables showed that the United States repeatedly encouraged Egypt to introduce political reforms, abolish the decades-old emergency law, which restricts freedom of assembly, and respect human rights.
Mubarak complained that any effort to open up the political arena would empower the Muslim Brotherhood and he warned that he "would not tolerate" the existence of political parties with a religious agenda, Muslim or Christian.
Egypt chafed at US support for civil society, saying it funds NGOs and human rights organisations dominated by "communists and extremists."
A member of the ruling National Democratic Party and a former minister, Dr Ali El Deen Hilal, called the opposition weak and described democracy as a "long term goal."
He reminded the United States that "the real centre of power in Egypt is the military" and security forces.
Mubarak, who would allow some changes unconnected with security, "generally views broader reforms as an invitation to extremism," one cable said.
The cables, dating from 2009 and 2010 and released by WikiLeaks, described Mubarak as a "classic Egyptian secularist who hates religious extremism and interference in politics."
They said he preferred a few individuals to suffer rather than risk chaos for society as a whole.
"We have heard him lament the results of earlier US efforts to encourage reform in the Islamic world," one cable said, adding that the US encouraged the shah of Iran to change "only to watch the country fall into the hands of revolutionary extremists.
"Wherever he has seen these US efforts, he can point to the chaos of loss of stability that ensued," pointing to Iraq, Palestinian elections which brought Hamas into power in 2006 and problems in Pakistan.
The Egyptian leader has supported some improvements in human rights and his wife, Suzanne Mubarak, has been given "a great deal of room to... advance women's and children's rights."
But "political reforms have stalled and the government has resorted to heavy-handed tactics against individuals and groups, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, whose influence continues to grow."
The cables described how the government began to tighten the political environment in 2009 ahead of parliamentary elections in 2010 and presidential elections in 2011.
They said Cairo suppressed critical opinion by turning "to an array of investigative authorities and public and private actions."
It worked "to flood the courts with suits against political enemies, using tactics such as fabricating assault charges against a journalist and filing a! profani ty case against a novelist."
Cairo also used security services to monitor and infiltrate the opposition and civil society, "and to suppress political opposition through arrests, harassment and intimidation," they said.
The cables showed that the United States repeatedly encouraged Egypt to introduce political reforms, abolish the decades-old emergency law, which restricts freedom of assembly, and respect human rights.
Mubarak complained that any effort to open up the political arena would empower the Muslim Brotherhood and he warned that he "would not tolerate" the existence of political parties with a religious agenda, Muslim or Christian.
Egypt chafed at US support for civil society, saying it funds NGOs and human rights organisations dominated by "communists and extremists."
A member of the ruling National Democratic Party and a former minister, Dr Ali El Deen Hilal, called the opposition weak and described democracy as a "long term goal."
He reminded the United States that "the real centre of power in Egypt is the military" and security forces.
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