TWENTY LAWSUITS AGAINST DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST SAAD

UNCLAS CAIRO 003455 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS NSC FOR PASCUAL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM EG SUBJECT: TWENTY LAWSUITS AGAINST DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST SAAD EDDIN IBRAHIM REF: A. CAIRO 3283 ¶B. CAIRO 3341 ¶C. CAIRO 3426 Sensitive but unclassified. Not for Internet distribution. ¶1. (SBU) In a December 9 conversation with us, Barbara Ibrahim (wife of Egyptian-American democracy activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim (SEI)),noted that her husband is now facing twenty separate lawsuits, most of them charging him with "spreading false news," espionage, and attempting to harm Egypt's economy by calling for cuts in U.S. assistance to Egypt. She commented that SEI feels that "the idea is to keep him busy and out of the country." With regard to the libel case against SEI and the Ibn Khaldun Center (IKC), filed by Tagammu Party leader Rifaat Said (ref B),Ibrahim said that SEI's lawyer "feels confident" that the case can be resolved in an out of court settlement. The lawyer recently counter-sued Said for libel, citing "insulting comments" he had made about SEI on a satellite TV show. Said's lawyer and SEI's lawyer are due to meet before the Eid al Adha holiday (which begins December 19) to discuss a possible out of court settlement, or more formal arbitration, which would also occur out of court. ¶2. (SBU) With regard to the other nineteen lawsuits, Ibrahim noted that the hearings of the various cases keep being postponed, "mostly at the request of the prosecution." One such case was scheduled for December 7, but then postponed until January 17. This new case is reportedly against both SEI and IKC, and recommends that the government assume administration of IKC, in part because it allegedly received $40 million in USG funding. (Note: Per ref C, IKC received USD 550,000 in MEPI funding this year for political education and electoral rights activities, and is currently engaged in a USD 100,000 two-year Grassroots Democracy and Islam program with USAID. End note). Ibrahim said that it would be helpful, both for this case and others, if SEI's lawyer had a document from the USG detailing precisely how much funding IKC has received from the US. We are currently preparing a brief letter along these lines, to pass to Ibrahim. Ricciardone