EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ON DARFUR, UN REFORM,

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 003007

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM UNSC EG SU LE
SUBJECT: EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ON DARFUR, UN REFORM,
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, NDI/IRI, PEACE CORPS

REF: STATE 78589

Classified by Ambassador Francis Ricciardone for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).

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Summary
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1. (C) During a May 18 meeting requested by the Ambassador,
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit offered his views on next
steps in Darfur, UN reform, and countering the Muslim
Brotherhood in Egypt. Aboul Gheit said Egypt was in touch
with Khartoum to urge its cooperation to resolve
international concerns on Darfur, and was prepared to send as
many Egyptian troops and monitors as the African Union would
allow. Egypt "could put 300 more men into Darfur in two
months," if the AU would indicate its acceptance. He said
Egypt had invited Mini Mennawi to Cairo, and would treat
dozens of Minawi's wounded troops in Egyptian hospitals. On
UN reform, Aboul Gheit dodged a substantive discussion on
management reform, choosing instead to attack what he called
USG efforts to silence debate on the Palestinian issue in the
UN. Similarly, when the Ambassador pressed on domestic
issues including Ayman Nour and police repression of
demonstrations, Aboul Gheit cited Muslim Brotherhood (MB)
plotting as the root cause of current domestic political
problems in Egypt, and sternly warned the U.S. not to
interfere. Describing his upcoming travel to China, ongoing
efforts to conclude a framework agreement with the Europeans,
and dismissing the ongoing debate over U.S. assistance, Aboul
Gheit half-jokingly told the Ambassador Egypt was "looking
toward its new friends, even as we value our traditional
friends." Aboul Gheit said he would favor approving standing
NDI/IRI requests to legalize their status in Egypt, and
reiterated his interest in Senator Dodd's recent proposal to
invite Peace Corps volunteers to Egypt. End summary.

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Where Next on Darfur?
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2. (C) Just back from a marathon tour that included stops in
New York, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Singapore, Malaysia, and
Japan, an exhausted Aboul Gheit agreed to meet the Ambassador
May 18, for a general review of bilateral and regional issues
prior to the World Economic Forum in Sharm El Sheikh and the
Ambassador's upcoming Washington consultations. Starting
with Darfur, the Ambassador drew from reftel demarche in
calling for GOE support for Darfur rebel leader Mini Mennawi
and the implementation of the recently-signed Darfur Peace
Agreement (DPA). Also crucial would be: Egyptian
contributions to Darfur reconstruction assistance, a
Darfur-Darfur Dialogue, pressure on Darfur rebels to sign the
DPA, support for the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS),
support for an eventual UN peace-keeping operation there, and
upholding UN sanctions on the four named Sudanese in UNSCR

1672.


3. (C) Responding, Aboul Gheit said he had recently sent
several letters to his Sudanese counterpart Lam Akol, to
counsel the GOS against taking additional unhelpful public
positions on Darfur that would "box them in" politically.
Aboul Gheit wondered aloud "what the GOS was doing," as he
accused its leaders of "not understanding the (international)
dynamics" of the Darfur crisis. Aboul Gheit volunteered that
Egypt had invited Darfur rebel leader Mini Mennawi to Cairo
for talks, and would treat several dozen of his wounded
troops (currently in Chad) in Egyptian hospitals. On GOE
support to AMIS, Aboul Gheit said Egypt had already supplied
the AU with 34 army officers and 50 civilian police monitors.
Egypt, he said, had offered "as many personnel as the AU
could handle," but accused the AU of being "lazy" in its
response to the offer. Aboul Gheit asked that the USG
communicate with the AU Secretariat to get a statement that
the AU would welcome (even a USG letter on the AU's views)
additional GOE troop contributions to AMIS. Asked about GOE
support for a UN PKO in Darfur, Aboul Gheit said Egypt was
willing to consider an offer, but only after the GOS provided
its consent. Aboul Gheit affirmed that the GOE would "of
course" uphold UNSCR 1672 sanctions against the Sudanese.

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Pressing Egypt on UN Reform
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4. (C) The Ambassador told Aboul Gheit that Washington was
focused on ensuring effective reforms at the United Nations,
to answer the call of world leaders last September to fix the

institution and ensure it functioned more effectively. To
this end, the recent vote at the UN to forestall reforms was
troubling, and required strong leadership to overcome
differences before the funding mandate expires in June.
Egypt, as an influential actor in this debate, needs to be
more helpful in answering SYG Annan's proposals for reform,
including in such areas as review of mandates, Secretariat
reform, etc., the Ambassador said. Seizing on the issue of
mandate reform, Aboul Gheit accused the U.S. of trying to
stifle debate on Palestine within the UN via its reform
efforts.

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Muslim Brotherhood Looking to Exploit Tensions
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5. (C) The Ambassador informed Aboul Gheit of his upcoming
consultations in Washington. He noted that there would be
high interest in the course of political reforms, but only
bad news was coming out of Egypt on this score since late
2005: Ayman Nour, local elections postponement, extension of
the emergency law, police brutality against peaceful
protestors, cases against judges, etc. Aboul Gheit was
dismissive.


6. (C) Citing his recent trip to Singapore and Malaysia,
Aboul Gheit noted his observation of a large and expanding
number of "covered women and bearded men" in those countries
and beyond. We don't want "the beards" in power here, he
said, and chided the U.S. for aiding the Muslim Brotherhood
(MB) in its quest for political power in Egypt. The U.S., he
further accused, did not understand the region but still
insists on interfering. "You made a large blunder in Bahrain
during last year's BMENA meeting," he said, when "one of your
delegation members thought that Egypt could be brushed aside.
The result is the tension and disruptions that we are
experiencing now. The issue boils down to the Muslim
Brotherhood and their belief that they can make us fall on
our faces. That won't happen," Aboul Gheit said
emphatically. The MB is now supporting the judges, but
"would support the street sweepers" if that helped them
accrue more power, he said. MB parliamentarians in their
recent debates were focusing on Iran's attempts to pursue
nuclear weapons and want Egypt to do the same. The U.S. must
understand that Egypt will not go the way of Iran or Algeria
- "we will resist and we will win." Nor can the U.S. afford
to have an Iran in Egypt, he said conclusively.

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International Republican/Democratic Institutes
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7. (C) The Ambassador noted his understanding that a
decision by the Minister was expected shortly on the subject
of permitting U.S. organizations the National Democratic
Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute
(IRI) to operated legally and above board in Egypt. Aboul
Gheit instructed his staff to check into the status of the
request. He indicated that he favored approving the request
as "such organizations are no threat to Egypt," but pointed
to a recent decision by the Government of Bahrain to refuse
permission for the NDI to operate there.

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Peace Corps for Egypt?
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8. (SBU) Aboul Gheit recalled that last month, Senator Dodd
had asked whether Egypt might welcome Peace Corps volunteers.
Aboul Gheit reminded the Ambassador that he had welcomed the
idea, and was awaiting the further information on the Peace
Corps program which the Senator had promised to send. Aboul
Gheit said he remained positively interested in the idea,
though "only male PCVs could serve in Upper Egypt." Action
request: please communicate Aboul Gheit's interest to Senator
Dodd and Peace Corps HQ. End action request.

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Egypt's New Friends
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9. (C) Responding to the Ambassador's comment that he would
be discussing USG military and economic assistance to Egypt
with Members of Congress at the WEF this weekend and on
Capitol Hill next month, Aboul Gheit stated that he was
"bored" of this topic and would no longer discuss it.
Nevertheless, he added that he would soon travel to China for
an upcoming Arab-China summit meeting, and that Egypt was
almost finished negotiating a "great, great" framework
agreement which would cover the relationship between Cairo

and the European Union. While Egypt would be working with
its "new friends," he continued, Egypt would continue to
value its relations with its "classic, conventional" friend
the United States. The Ambassador commended Egypt for
attempting to open up further to the world, and hoped it
could open up further at home, as well. (Comment: We
understand that President Mubarak ordered agencies to cease
discussion with U.S. officials on the assistance package, out
of resentment at USG linkages of aid to domestic reforms that
Egypt insists it will pursue at its own pace. End comment.)
RICCIARDONE