Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CAIRO3941
2005-05-24 16:01:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

ARREST OF SENIOR MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD OFFICIAL

Tags:  PGOV KISL EG 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 003941 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/24/2015
TAGS: PGOV KISL EG
SUBJECT: ARREST OF SENIOR MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD OFFICIAL
FURTHER ESCALATES "SHOWDOWN" WITH GOE

REF: A. CAIRO 3755

B. CAIRO 3424

Classified by A/DCM Michael Corbin for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 003941

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/24/2015
TAGS: PGOV KISL EG
SUBJECT: ARREST OF SENIOR MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD OFFICIAL
FURTHER ESCALATES "SHOWDOWN" WITH GOE

REF: A. CAIRO 3755

B. CAIRO 3424

Classified by A/DCM Michael Corbin for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) The GOE arrested on May 22 Mahmoud Ezzat,
Secretary-General of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Ezzat

SIPDIS
is the most senior MB official to be arrested in at least a
decade. His arrest comes in the context of an increasingly
sharp and sustained confrontation between the government and
the MB, as the former frets over unprecedented pressures -
internal and external - to reform, and the latter adopts both
more assertive street tactics and a more carefully tailored
public message playing up reformist rhetoric and playing down
traditional Islamist slogans (ref A). Ezzat's arrest, and
the MB's harsh rhetoric in response, suggest attitudes on
both sides are continuing to harden. End summary.

--------------
Same Net, Bigger Fish
--------------


2. (C) As predicted in ref A, the standoff between the GOE
and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB),the illegal but partially
tolerated group which claims to speak for the majority of
Egyptians, has continued to escalate. The May 22 arrest of
Dr. Mahmoud Ezzat, the MB's Secretary-General and
second-in-command, along with six "key" MB figures in several
governorates, appeared to bring the confrontation to a new
level. Ezzat is the most senior MB figure to be arrested in
at least a decade.


3. (C) Ezzat's arrest also follows the May 6 arrest of
prominent MB spokesman Essam Erian, who was reportedly
preparing to announce an (illegal) campaign for the
Presidency. Hundreds of other MB members, up to 3000 by the
group's count, have been arrested in the past six weeks,
although there have also been reports of subsequent
mass-releases. Independent media reports estimate about 800
in custody from the current crackdown.


4. (C) Until recently, the GOE and the MB appeared to have an
unwritten understanding that periodic arrests would exclude
the group's senior echelon, presumably in exchange for some
level of restraint on the part of the MB. As discussed
reftel, that understanding began to unravel, and tensions
with the group began to flare, earlier this spring, as the MB

shifted gears and began to defy bans on public demonstrations
and step up its demands for "political reform" and "freedom
of association" in place of its traditional Islamist slogans.

--------------
The GOE's Complaint
--------------


5. (SBU) The pro-government daily Al-Ahram printed highlights
of the GOE's legal complaint against Ezzat and other MB
defendants (which, according to the daily al-Hayat, is being
applied against 700 co-defendants in case number 604/2005).
The complaint accuses defendants of:

-- Acting to create chaos and instigate the masses;
-- Calling for civil disobedience;
-- Creating chaos to embarrass the state;
-- Encouraging people to boycott the (May 25) referendum;
-- Collecting funds for a banned organization;
-- Recruiting new members, especially among those of limited
income;
-- Printing large quantities of leaflets in support of these
activities.

--------------
Campus Connections (?)
--------------


6. (C) Al-Ahram also speculated that Ezzat's arrest had been
prompted by his participation in several recent
demonstrations at university campuses, during which groups of
faculty members (to the chagrin of university
administrations) had threatened to refuse to correct
students' annual exams as an act of "civil disobedience" in
solidarity with Islamist faculty colleagues swept up in the
GOE's recent arrests of MB members. As noted in ref B, State
Security maintains a large presence at most universities,
apparently to keep Islamist students and faculty members in
check. Their presence, generally seen as heavy-handed and
even academically stifling, prompted unprecedented
demonstrations by faculty members at several universities in
April.

--------------
Reactions - Satisfied and Defiant
--------------


7. (SBU) Commentators in several pro-government newspapers
described Ezzat's arrest as a "crippling blow" and a
"terrible shock" to the MB. One pro-GOE commentator
interpreted the move as a "clear signal from the government
that it would not be intimidated by the MB and was capable of
taking action against them."


8. (SBU) If Ezzat's arrest shocked and crippled the MB,
Supreme Guide Mahdy Akef did not reflect this during a May 22
appearance on the Arabic satellite channel Al-Arabiyya. He
stated that the arrests would not dissuade the MB from
continuing to demand reform and accused the GOE of losing
direction. In particularly provocative language, Akef
accused the GOE of arresting any MB members who might run for
parliament this fall, claiming that the GOE lives in fear of
the "landslide victory" the MB would achieve if allowed to
compete in a free election. In remarks to the regional
Arabic newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Akef described the GOE's
arrests of MB members as proof that the regime "is weak and
about to crumble" and said "let them arrest whoever they want
- we have thousands of others who can run."

--------------
Parliament Dust-Up
--------------


9. (SBU) Meanwhile, on May 23, Assistant Minister of Interior
Ahmed Dia'addin appeared at parliament in response to
interpolations filed by several of the 15 "independent" MPs
affiliated with the MB in the People's Assembly to protest
the arrests. The MB MPs harangued Dia'addin, asserting that
the Minister himself should have appeared and accused the
Ministry of Interior of mistreating MB detainees, denying
them due process, and applying excessive emergency law powers
in conducting their arrests. Dia'addin rejected the MPs
complaints, asserting that the MB detainees were being
processed and charged under the penal code, underlined that
"no one is above the law," and said that demands that the
Minister of Interior himself appear were unreasonable and
intended to "divert the Minister's attention from addressing
real problems" and safeguarding the country.

--------------
Comment
--------------


10. (C) While Ezzat's arrest represents an escalation in the
current round of GOE-MB tensions, both sides still have more
weapons at their disposal, should they wish to further
intensify their dispute. As Supreme Guide Akef himself
acknowledged, there are still plenty of MB members (including
senior leaders) the GOE could arrest. The GOE could also
close down MB central offices and those MB-affiliated
organizations. It is not clear whether or how the MB could
further flex their muscles, but Akef's most recent remarks -
predicting an electoral landslide that would shame and
humiliate the GOE (if the MB was allowed to compete),and
asserting that the GOE is "about to crumble" suggest a
hardening attitude - come in stark contrast from his remarks
a week earlier (ref A) in which he asserted the group did not
seek the downfall of the regime. For now, we believe the MB
will stick to its strategy of "civil disobedience" and
reformist rhetoric, but may also seek to ramp up its
aggressive street tactics, with the attendant potential for
violent clashes with police. End comment.


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GRAY