ANGER BOILS OVER IN ASWAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 002430 SIPDIS FOR NEA/ELA E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/26/2028 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM EG SUBJECT: ANGER BOILS OVER IN ASWAN REF: A. CAIRO 2370 ¶B. CAIRO 2260 Classified By: ECPO Mincouns William R. Stewart for reason 1.4 (d). ¶1. (U) On November 22, police in the Upper Egypt city of Aswan shot and killed Abdel Wahab Abdel Razek at his home while searching for a suspected drug dealer. According to press reports, police officials said Razek fired at officers who then shot and killed him. In a November 25 public statement, Amnesty International asserted that the officers broke into Razek's home without a warrant as part of a drug investigation, and shot him to death. An estimated 7,000 people participated in the November 24 funeral under heavy security. Aswan citizens rioted on November 23 following the killing, and police used rubber bullets and tear gas to dispel the crowds, asphyxiating an elderly man, Yehya Abdel Meguid Maghrabi. On November 25, prosecutors arrested and charged one police officer with the killing of Razek, and the Governor of Aswan reportedly decided to provide 10,000 Egyptian pounds (about 1,800 USD) and free housing as compensation to Razek's family, and 5,000 pounds (about 900 USD) compensation to Maghrabi's family. ¶2. (C) Comment: Tensions between police and civilians consistently run high throughout Egypt, and accidental killings such as this can ignite spasms of popular anger and violence directed against the security forces. The November 10 police killing of a suspected drug smuggler in the Sinai precipitated the resulting clashes between Bedouin tribes and security forces that left three tribesmen dead (ref A). The police killing of a pregnant woman in Salamut (120 miles south of Cairo) in October sparked a violent demonstration against police and the torching of a police vehicle (ref B). While these violent clashes do not come close to threatening regime stability, they are a reminder of the un-reconciled tensions between citizens and police. SCOBEY