MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD: GOVERNMENT PREVENTS ANNUAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 002881

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR SINGH AND WATERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV KISL KDEM EG
SUBJECT: MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD: GOVERNMENT PREVENTS ANNUAL
RAMADAN IFTAR

REF: A. 2006 CAIRO 6254

B. CAIRO 2683

Classified By: Minister-Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs,
William R. Stewart, for reason 1.4 (d).


1. (SBU) For the first time in approximately twenty years,
the government has prohibited the annual Ramadan iftar
(fast-breaking meal) hosted by the leadership of the Egyptian
Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Reportedly, the Interior Ministry
refused to grant the MB permission to hold the yearly event
(which was scheduled for September 22),and the group thus
had to cancel arrangements it had already made with a local
five-star hotel, where the iftar has been held in years past,
but which is not allowed to hold such a large affair without
the necessary approvals from state security.


2. (SBU) In past years, guests at the MB's iftar have
numbered in the thousands, including luminaries from the
leadership of the range of Egyptian political parties
(including, in some years, ruling party members),
intelligentsia, opposition movements, civil society,
academics, and journalists (see ref A for details on the MB's
2006 iftar). The Interior Ministry has declined to comment
publicly, but officials have reportedly privately confirmed
to journalists that a "formal decision" was made to prevent
the iftar. Local analysts speculate that a motivating factor
in the government's decision was concern that the MB would
use the event, particularly the expected A-list of attendees,
as evidence that it is a de facto "legitimate organization,"
during the ongoing military tribunals of 40 leading MB
members.


3. (SBU) The MB's leadership has been scathingly critical of
the government's blocking of the iftar, and issued public
statements "apologizing" to the invitees. In several media
interviews over the past few days, MB Supreme Guide Mohamed
Mehdy Akef has denounced the government's decision to prevent
the iftar, asserting that, "They (the GOE) are even afraid of
the iftars that we hold and regard them as a danger to
national security .... Does it harm anyone for a few hundred
national icons to meet over dinner? The government now
restricts our moves and behaves with us as if we were enemies
of the homeland. They do not know that we love Egypt and
fear for it more than they do."


4. (SBU) Despite the decision to stop the main Cairo iftar,
several other MB-sponsored local iftars have been held around
the country, often at the premises of professional syndicates
whose elected leadership is overwhelmingly from the MB. For
instance, the MB's Alexandria branch held an iftar on
September 19 at the Egyptian Bar Association office, which MB
Deputy Supreme Guide Mohamed Habib attended. The MB's
parliamentary bloc announced that it plans to host its
first-ever iftar on September 30, at the premises of the
Doctor's Syndicate in Cairo.


5. (C) Comment: The GOE's blocking of the MB's iftar is a
further indication of the government's heightened sensitivity
and concern about the Islamist organization, as well as an
increased willingness to take tough measures against the
group. As demonstrated by the progressively more aggressive
campaign of arrests of MB members (ref B),the government's
tolerance for the MB appears to be on the wane, motivated in
no small part by insecurities about the MB's dynamism and
popular appeal, and role as the torch-bearer of Egypt's
political opposition.

JONES