AYMAN NOUR SEEKS USG INTERVENTION; GAMEELA ISMAIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 006105 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC FOR RICK WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/27/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM EG SUBJECT: AYMAN NOUR SEEKS USG INTERVENTION; GAMEELA ISMAIL DENIES SIGNING ARAB ACTIVISTS LETTER TO POTUS Classified By: Minister Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs William R. Stewart ¶1. (C) Summary: In a letter to A/S Welch, imprisoned Al Ghad party leader Ayman Nour requests USG intervention on his behalf with the GOE (presumably, President Hosni Mubarak),to grant Nour amnesty. In a related development, Nour's wife and lawyer deny that they signed the September 11, 2006 letter to President Bush from Arab activists, referenced by President Bush in his September 19 UNGA speech. End summary. ¶2. (C) On September 26, Gameela Ismail, wife of imprisoned Al Ghad party leader Ayman Nour, delivered a letter from her husband to poloff. While it had no written addressee, Ismail informed poloff that it is intended for NEA A/S Welch (Note: Out of concern that his letters will be censored, Nour does not address them in writing to American officials, or reference the names of GOE officials. End note). In his letter, Nour requests USG intervention on his behalf with the GOE (presumably, President Hosni Mubarak),to grant Nour amnesty under constitutional Article 149 (which provides the president the right to grant amnesty). Nour notes that under Article 149, he could also be granted exemption from the ban on re-entering Egyptian political life that he would otherwise face following his release from prison. (Full text of Embassy translation of the letter at para 4). ¶3. (C) In a related development, Gameela Ismail (Nour's wife) and Amir Salem (Nour's lawyer) continue to deny that they signed the September 11, 2006 letter to President Bush from Arab activists, referenced by President Bush in his September 19 UNGA speech. In a September 28 telcon with poloff, Ismail asserted that an over-enthusiastic Al Ghad party staffer, with access to her and Salem's e-mail accounts, received the letter via e-mail from the Washington-based Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, and sent in her and Salem's signatures, because he thought they would support the initative. Ismail is upset that her name appears on the letter, and asserts that it has already caused her problems with the GOE: "I was at the General Prosecutor's office earlier this week to request amnesty for Ayman Nour on humanitarian grounds, and I was asked by the officials there, 'Why are you raising this with us? You've already requested help from President Bush, showing that you have no respect for the Egyptian legal system. Either work through our legal channels, or have President Bush do your work, but don't try and do both'." Ismail is also alarmed that some elements of the tabloid press have criticized the Nour camp for "inviting foreign interference" by writing to President Bush on Nour's behalf. She plans to continue to disavow the letter publicly. ¶4. (SBU) Begin text of letter. Dear Friend, Mr. ... Two years ago, during the first and last meeting you honored me with, you asked me at the end of it a difficult question, which was: "what can we do for you?" Really, I did not have an answer and when I told Your Excellency that I needed time to answer this question, I did not imagine that I would only answer after two years! And I also did not imagine that my reply would be a written one. Sir, what happened after 89 days of establishing the party was a lot faster than I could have predicted, and unfortunately was more fierce and violent than could be imagined. It was a bloodless assassination that aimed to kill the last dream for a "civil" and sane alternative to an authority that is bothered by the emergence of this alternative, even if it is an 89-day old embryo! And maybe they have the right, from their point of view, for Egypt, in the moments of yearning for change and throughout its long history, never sided with choosing institutions, or political or religious groups, but always sided with a person, a dream, an icon, or a state. That is how Egypt sided with Saad Zaghloul, who did not ) before being banished - represent a number of people or embody an organization or a group. The history of my homeland has taught me that the ability to change things is related to the ability to pay the price. I know Sir, that when you reach the (NDP) conference that you will attend, you will hear strong continuous applause for an old yet new project that raises the slogan of &Stability!" (Note: In the lead-up to the recent NDP party conference, the Egyptian press was full of reports that A/S Welch would attend the meeting. End note) And in our country, Sir, when your people applaud to the point of pain, it means anything but satisfaction or stability. The noise of applause behind closed doors does not reflect the people,s feelings. Sir, a year has gone by since the presidential elections. A CAIRO 00006105 002 OF 003 year of my presence behind bars! The man I competed with, who has everything while I have nothing, imprisoned me unjustly in a fabricated crime that I did not commit. He picked the case. He picked the investigator. He picked the judge, the jail and the jailer. And every morning he personally negates my rights as a human being in jail. And all that is normally allowed to political detainees or criminal convicts is banned when it comes to me; in short, I am imprisoned in a prison inside a prison, and what is sought is my life and not just my freedom! Dear Sir, he who has unjustly imprisoned me, is the only one who can release me under Article 149 of the Egyptian Constitution which allows him to pardon the penalty, and grant amnesty from its consequences and effect on my political rights. For unfortunately, the choice of this fabricated crime did not come out of nowhere, as it is the only crime that costs a citizen the right to be nominated and elected for 12 full years! The utmost ban for all (other) crimes is 6 years, except this one. Which means I would be deprived of my political rights for 17 years, if you add the years of the sentence. The attempts to release me on health grounds means the 17 year hurdle remains, and the only way out is one thing -- for the President to grant full amnesty ) not a health-based release - and for the presidential decree (of amnesty) to include the penalty and all its effects; otherwise, it is a political and professional execution, and I would not be able to practice law or chair my party or be a member of any parliament or even a sports club for 17 years! I hope, dear Sir, that it is clear that the only remedy is an amnesty in accordance with article 149 of the constitution including the effect of the penalty and cited in the decree itself. Dear Sir, I have lost my freedom, my humanity, my profession, and my family,s source of income and what I used to have to spend on my party and its newspaper, and it has become clear that the goal behind extending the term of my imprisonment is hurting me to the fullest as a human and hurting my political project. And what is more dangerous than all this is the assassination and elimination of dreaming of a "civil" alternative that does not wear a "cap" or a "turban" on its head! This dream is the real inmate that should be liberated and released, before people lose hope and so that we may make use of the huge price we paid courageously and honorably for an entire year. Please understand my full appreciation for all the effort that has been exerted, and for all the announced and an unannounced positions you made, but I assure you that the other side is not at all serious and is stalling for time in front of everyone! Dear Sir, what matters is not whether I get out or die in prison! What is more important is what I do after I get out. What I can do for my homeland and my political project, employing a huge amount of sympathy and "silent" solidarity as the first-ever liberal to pay a price for (my) genuine reform project. For long years, leftists and the Muslim Brotherhood were the ones paying the price for their positions, and that used to bring them some public sympathy, and also fears, but now we have these same feelings in the street, added to them a large amount of respect and trust, despite the campaigns of slandering and accusations of being an agent and receiving billions from America (as the man who imprisoned me used to say publicly while I was selling my family,s assets and property to spend peanuts on the elections, and he spent tens of millions). Dear Sir, the passage of a year is an important occasion that deserves all effort to actually achieve results and not simply to exert the effort. And previous excuses of rejecting your interference are unacceptable now, after 110 parliamentarians in the Egyptian Parliament submitted a request for my full amnesty to the President weeks ago, but he did not pay attention to the request and the inhumane pressures on me, my family, and my party increased; the excuse of not interfering in judicial and justice matters has become a laughable thing, after the judges themselves disclosed this huge lie. It is the President that appoints the Public Prosecutor, and he is the supreme president of all judicial councils and until now, he is the only one to whom the constitution gives the right to grant amnesty! Yes, Sir, of course it came to my knowledge what the Wall Street Journal published. But unfortunately, they (the GOE) employ all this in the context of their ability to resist CAIRO 00006105 003 OF 003 your efforts, in light of an atmosphere that is biased against interference for reform. Sir, this calls for a personal, direct and quick intervention that ends with a clear and specific promise, as the ball is now in their court and nobody else,s. There is no way for an appeal and there is no other way than waiting for 17 years! Dear Sir, after two full years, this is "half" of my answer to your last question from our first and last meeting! As for the "second half" of my answer, it is delayed until we meet upon my release, God willing. In the end, all my love and appreciation and sincerest wishes to you and everyone. Until we meet again, very soon, God willing. Dr. Ayman Nour End text of letter. RICCIARDONE