Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07CAIRO3542
2007-12-27 12:12:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

EGYPT REACTS TO CONGRESSIONAL CONDITIONS ON US

Tags:  EAID PREL KPAL EG IS XF 
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O 271212Z DEC 07
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C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 003542 

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C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - TEXT. PARAGRAPH 1 AND 7.

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2017
TAGS: EAID PREL KPAL EG IS XF
SUBJECT: EGYPT REACTS TO CONGRESSIONAL CONDITIONS ON US
ASSISTANCE

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 003542

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C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - TEXT. PARAGRAPH 1 AND 7.

SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2017
TAGS: EAID PREL KPAL EG IS XF
SUBJECT: EGYPT REACTS TO CONGRESSIONAL CONDITIONS ON US
ASSISTANCE

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: Since the Eid, Egyptian reaction to
Congressional conditioning of US assistance has become more
pronounced. Privately, GOE officials have expressed anger
but hope that the Secretary will waive the conditionality.
On December 23, Minister for Foreign Affairs Aboul Gheit told
Ambassador that he had raised this issue with Secretary Rice
in Paris, and urged that she issue the waiver "immediately."
On December 26, Aboul Gheit publicly denounced meddling by a
"third party" in US-Egyptian relations, and said the
conditionality reflected Israel's attempts to influence
Egyptian moves towards Hamas. The decision has received
considerable local media coverage. Egypt has taken some
meaningful steps on improving police human right performance
and Gaza border control, but it will not be possible for the
Secretary to certify that the GOE has made adequate progress

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on strengthening judicial independence. The political
decision will be whether and when to waive conditionality on
national security grounds. Senior levels of the GOE appear
to expect a waiver. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) With the end of the Eid holiday period, the Egyptian
reaction to the decision by Congress to condition $100
million of US assistance to Egypt has become more pronounced.
Privately, GOE officials have expressed their anger at the
decision by Congress but hope that the Secretary will use her
authority to waive the conditionality. On December 23,
Minister for Foreign Affairs Aboul Gheit told Ambassador that
he had raised this issue with Secretary Rice in at the
December 17 donors' conference in Paris, and urged that she
issue the waiver "immediately."


3. (U) Initially, official public comment was limited to a
December 21 statement by MFA spokesman Hossam Zaki in which
he expressed Egypt's "rejection" of the conditionality. As
reported by the press, Zaki stated that "it is obvious since
the issue of withholding a part of the assistance was first

raised in the US Congress that there are forces inside and
outside the United States that want to damage
Egyptian-American relations although these sides know Egypt's
firm position in rejecting foreign pressure. It is known
that the Israeli lobby played a role...."


4. (U) On December 26, the government-owned Al Ahram
reported that Aboul Gheit said Egypt "would not allow a third
party to meddle in its relationship with the United States."
He went on to say that "those who follow the Egyptian
meetings and contributions to the issues of interest to the
United States in the Middle East will find that this
relationship is based on a good measure of understanding and
coordination between two parties.... Egypt will thwart the
endeavors of those trying to harm these relations." He
observed that since the Israeli pull-out and Hamas takeover
of Gaza, Israeli-Palestinian tensions have continued to rise.
Aboul Gheit said the Congressional conditionality on Egypt's
aid reflected Israel's attempts to influence Egyptian moves
towards Hamas. He also underlined continued Egyptian efforts
to maintain border security between Gaza and Egypt.


5. (U) There has been considerable local media coverage of
the decision. Most editorials considered the conditioning to
be interference in Egyptian domestic affairs, and a
humiliation. Manar El Chorbagy, an AUC professor, noted that
the best way to avoid the use of aid as a political tool was
to achieve real democracy. Others, including Al Dustour, and
Al Usboa, suggested ending the aid relationship was the only
way to achieve independence. Kefaya's George Ishak described
the conditioning as "humiliating" and suggested that Egypt
should not depend on a single source for military support.
In contrast, Al Ahram Center Director Abdel Moneim pointed
out that the benefits of the bilateral commercial
relationship far outweigh those of aid, and asked why the
impact of Hamas and the border issue was considered only in
terms of Egyptian-US relations, and not examined for the
damage it was doing to Egyptian national security.


6. (SBU) COMMENT: If the bill is signed in its present
form, several decisions on how to implement the legislation
must be made. It is our understanding that the
Administration will have the option of assigning the
conditionalities to $100 million of FMF, ESF, or a
combination of the two. In purely financial and
administrative terms, there is sufficient money in the both

the FMF and USAID pipelines to keep programs running without
the $100 million in question for the current fiscal year.
That is, other policy considerations aside, 2008 FMF and ESF
funding will continue to flow for many months even in the
absence of a certification or waiver.


7. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: Egypt has taken some meaningful
steps on the second and third conditions (improving police
human right performance and Gaza border control). But we
believe that it will not be possible for the Secretary to
certify that the GOE has made adequate progress on the first
condition, ie., strengthening judicial independence, in the
near future. The political decision therefore will be
whether and when to waive the conditionality on national
security grounds. It appears that senior levels of the GOE
expect the Secretary to go ahead with the waiver.

Ricciardone