AFTERMATH OF SECTARIAN STRIFE IN ALEXANDRIA

UNCLAS CAIRO 002336

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

NSC STAFF FOR SINGH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF EG
SUBJECT: AFTERMATH OF SECTARIAN STRIFE IN ALEXANDRIA

REF: CAIRO 2267

Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly.


1. (SBU) Summary. Alexandria has been peaceful since the
April 14 attacks and April 15-16 clashes reported reftel.
There continues to be considerable speculation about whether
the man who was arrested after the fatal church attacks was
operating alone. Protesters in Alexandria on April 16 as
well as a nationalist member of Parliament have accused the
USG of interfering in Egyptian domestic politics. The
Parliament and the National Council for Human Rights have
launched inquiries into the violence. President Mubarak has
called for national unity and tolerance. In a late-breaking
development Pope Shenouda III has indicated that he will not
travel to Alexandria for his customary Holy Week visit. Many
observers are looking toward Friday, April 21 (which will be
Good Friday according to the Orthodox calendar, as well as
the Muslim day of prayer) as an indicator of whether this
latest sectarian crisis has passed. End summary.


2. (SBU) There has been a noticeably high-profile security
presence in Alexandria, particularly around churches, since
the GOE managed to contain sectarian demonstrations and
clashes on April 16. In addition to the arrested suspect in
the April 14 slaying (a young Muslim man, Mahmoud Salaheddin
Abdul Razzak, accused in the murder of the aged Noshi Atta
Guirgis, a Christian),the GOE has arrested more than 50
persons (both Muslim and Christian) suspected of
participating in sectarian riots on April 15-16. The GOE's
Public Prosecutor in Alexandria has launched a formal
investigation into the murder of Guirgis.


3. (SBU) Initial speculation by many GOE critics--that it
was highly implausible that the accused killer could have
acted alone--now seems to be diminishing. There have been
several reliable media reports that suspect Mahmoud Abdul
Razzak did indeed have a history of mental illness, and had
previously made threats against Christians and churches in
Alexandria. Adel Hamouda, the editor of the influential
opposition weekly Al-Fagr, has reported that Abdul Razzak had
in fact been released from GOE detention last year after his
mother appealed to the Coptic Church, which interceded on
Abdul Razzak's behalf with the GOE. Note: Knowledgeable
Christian contacts of the Embassy have not been able to
confirm Hamouda's public assertion that Abdul Razzak was
released after the church's intercession. End note. Despite
the new details that are emerging about the accused's
background, other observers continue to insist that Abdul
Razzak must have had co-conspirators, or at least
accomplices, to conduct the three separate attacks. Certain
statements by Church officials as well as the Ministry of
Interior about the need to prosecute any and all
"perpetrators" in the slaying have further fueled the
suspicion that an additional suspect(s) remains at large.


4. (SBU) In another development, on the evening of April
16, a crowd of more than 1000 (both Muslims and Christians)
demonstrated peacefully in Alexandria, calling for calm and
national unity. Some in the crowd, however, shouted slogans
denouncing USG intervention in Egypt's internal affairs.
Comment: Nationalist Egyptian critics of the USG's support
for religious freedom in Egypt have in the past protested
that the USG is "taking the side of the Copts." For example,
in late 2005, when Coptic activists convened a conference in
Washington to discuss religious freedom and democracy in
Egypt, the nationalist-xenophobic element in Egypt's media
denounced the meeting as an example of USG interference in
Egypt's internal affairs, simply on the basis that the
meeting took place in Washington. End comment.


5. (SBU) Maverick independent parliamentarian, Mustafa
Al-Bakry, editor of the tabloid weekly Al-Osbua, has also
decried what he alleges is USG "interference" (i.e, the USG
reaction to the Alexandria violence). Other MPs have
announced the formation of a special committee to look into
the events in Alexandria. The quasi-governmental National
Council for Human Rights (NCHR) has also announced that it
too will hold an inquiry into the attacks.


6. (SBU) In an April 18 meeting with parliamentarians, in
his first public remarks on the events in Alexandria,
President Mubarak stated that the Egyptian people have lived
throughout their history not differentiating between Muslim
and Christian, all living in peace, with common pains, common
ideas, a common past and a common future, and added that no
force could affect this national unity. Mubarak further
stressed the sanctity of places of worship, and asserted that
the Egyptian people have always believed that "religion is
for God while the nation is for everyone." Also, late on
April 18, Church contacts informed us that Pope Shenouda III,
who has spent the Holy Week in his customary prayer and
contemplation at the Wadi Natroun monastery, will not be
traveling to Alexandria, as has been his past practice, for
an Easter week service. Comment: Although the reasons
behind Shenouda's decision to remain in Wadi Natroun are not
clear, we suspect that many observers will interpret his
actions as some sort of protest or signal to the GOE. End
comment.


7. (SBU) Looking ahead, the Minister for Religious
Endowments, Hamdi Zaqzouq, has urged the nation's Muslim
preachers to devote their sermons on Friday, April 21 to the
subject of Egypt's national unity and long history of
religious tolerance. Many Egyptians, both Christian and
Muslim, will be watching closely to see if indeed April 21
(Orthodox Good Friday and the Muslim day of prayer) passes
peacefully.
RICCIARDONE