Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CAIRO1393
2009-07-19 14:45:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

POWER POLITICS AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE DELTA CITY

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI EG 
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VZCZCXRO1040
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #1393/01 2001445
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 191445Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3222
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 001393 

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ELA AND DRL/NESCA
NSC FOR KUMAR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2029
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI EG
SUBJECT: POWER POLITICS AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE DELTA CITY
OF MANSOURA

REF: A. 08 CAIRO 833

B. 08 CAIRO 495

C. 08 CAIRO 389

D. 05 CAIRO 9100

E. 05 CAIRO 8911

F. 05 CAIRO 8663

Classified By: Economic-Political Minister-Counselor
Donald A. Blome for reason 1.4 (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 001393

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ELA AND DRL/NESCA
NSC FOR KUMAR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2029
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI EG
SUBJECT: POWER POLITICS AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE DELTA CITY
OF MANSOURA

REF: A. 08 CAIRO 833

B. 08 CAIRO 495

C. 08 CAIRO 389

D. 05 CAIRO 9100

E. 05 CAIRO 8911

F. 05 CAIRO 8663

Classified By: Economic-Political Minister-Counselor
Donald A. Blome for reason 1.4 (d).


1. KEY POINTS

-- (U) On July 15 we visited the Delta city of Mansoura, with
a population of 1 million, high unemployment and a formerly
agricultural economy transitioning to light manufacturing and
other trade.

-- (C) One local businessman and NGO leader told us that in
the past six months the GOE has forced the city's wealthy
Muslim Brotherhood (MB) merchants out of business so they
will not be able to fund MB-affiliated candidates in the 2010
parliamentary elections. He said the GOE will pressure
secular merchants to run as ruling NDP candidates.

-- (C) Another NGO leader who has benefitted from USG-funded
political training described how the GOE forced him out of
political work, and used vote rigging to prevent him from
winning a local council seat in 2008.

-- (U) NGO leaders described their work in civic education,
legal aid and socio-economic development.


2. (C) Comment: GOE efforts to force MB candidates out of
the 2010 spring and fall parliamentary elections by cutting
off their funding sources well in advance would be a new
strategy. During the 2005 parliamentary elections, the
government used a goal-line defense of arrests and preventing
citizens from voting in the second and third rounds following
MB success in the first round (refs D, E, F). In the two
months preceding the 2008 local elections, the GOE arrested
several hundred MB leaders and candidates before the MB
boycotted the contests in protest (refs A, B, C). Quiet
efforts to cut off MB funding, combined with the recent,
publicized arrests of MB leaders throughout the country,
could indicate that the GOE is off to an early, multifaceted
start to marginalizing the MB in advance of the 2010
elections. End comment.

--------------
Mansoura: Economy and Basic Facts
--------------


3. (SBU) Mansoura, located approximately 100 miles north of

Cairo with a population of about 1 million, is the capital of
the Daqaliya Governorate, and sits in the midst of the
Delta's almost unbroken agricultural land stretching north
from Cairo to the Mediterranean. Mansoura's economy was
based on agriculture, particularly rice, but merchants have
branched into other areas of commerce due to decreasing
prices for fruits and vegetables. A large percentage of the
population still works in agriculture, but the city's
commerce also focuses on light manufacturing, real estate,
construction and import-export trade. Contacts told us that
Mansoura's university-educated youth are leaving the city
when they can find jobs in Cairo and Alexandria. Contacts
noted that unemployment is high, particularly among youth,
and that the majority of the population is "poor," but less
so than in Upper Egypt. They noted there has been little
political tension or violence in the city since the 2005
elections.

--------------
GOE Strangling the MB
--------------


4. (C) Amer Fares, a local businessman and director of a
youth empowerment NGO, told us that the GOE has cracked down
on Muslim Brotherhood (MB) businessmen in Mansoura to the
extent that the MB can no longer provide social services in
the city. He said the GOE began to run prominent legitimate
MB merchants out of business six months ago to weaken the
organization in advance of the 2010 parliamentary elections.
Fares predicted that the MB would be "out of commission" for
the elections, and that the ruling National Democratic Party
(NDP) would recruit secular businessmen to run as self-funded
NDP candidates. He asserted that the NDP would pressure such
merchants to run as NDP candidates by threatening to hinder
their business activities with red-tape if they refused.

CAIRO 00001393 002 OF 003


According to Fares, the NDP would easily co-opt secular
Mansoura merchants who succeeded in winning seats as
independents by preventing them from providing constituent
services through parliament unless they join the NDP. Fares
predicted that the 2010 elections would be quiet in Mansoura
due to the GOE forcing the MB off the political stage.

--------------
NDP Trying to Win Back the Population
--------------


5. (C) Director of the Constitutional Protection Center
Mohammed Shalaby told us that the MB is powerful in Daqaliya
Governorate, and that MB-affiliated independent MPs hold 4 of
the governorate's 17 seats. People in Mansoura "hate" the
NDP, Shalaby claimed, due to the poor economy, educational
system and health sector. He said that rampant government
corruption in the public health sector has increasingly
compelled citizens to visit private clinics. The MB is
therefore an alternative to the NDP, Shalaby noted, although
Mansoura is a relatively secular city due to its
universities. Shalaby said that two years ago the NDP
appointed a competent governor for Daqaliya, General Samir
Salaam, to replace the previous governor who was "terrible"
and had no plans for the governorate. Salaam has emphasized
development, encouraged NGOs to visit prisons and started a
city beautification campaign.

--------------
GOE Pushing Civil Society Out of Politics
--------------


6. (C) Shalaby said that he used campaign training from the
USG-funded National Democratic Institute (NDI) as a candidate
in the 2008 local council elections. To save money, he
relied on SMS messaging and recruiting unpaid volunteers. He
also offered free legal services to the poor to generate good
will. Shalaby believed he probably would have won a seat if
the NDP had not "stolen" the elections through vote rigging.
He described how the GOE began to watch his activities
closely after he began working with NDI and the Ibn Khaldoun
Center (IKC) to monitor the 2005 parliamentary elections.
Shalaby said the GOE was particularly displeased with
Shalaby's work with IKC founder Saad Eddin Ibrahim to reform
electoral lists in advance of the 2005 elections, and
Shalaby's criticism of the 2007 constitutional amendments.
Shalaby claimed that harassment by State Security
Investigative Services (SSIS) made it impossible for him to
continue his political work, and he now focuses on
socio-economic development through legal aid.
--------------
Civil Society: Legal Aid and Civic Education
--------------


7. (C) Shalaby's NGO work focuses on advocating for
Mansoura's poor by providing legal aid and writing letters to
the GOE demanding the provision of social services for
citizens, such as fertility treatment and employment
accommodation for the disabled. He is now working with the
local council to urge improved city sanitation based on
environmental laws. Shalaby said the government had been
embezzling public funds allocated for garbage collection. He
noted that SSIS has not harassed him since he stopped overtly
political activities.


8. (C) Amr Fares, Director of the Fares Foundation for Social
Care, told us that he funds his organization from his
business profits, and focuses on youth empowerment. He
organized an essay contest for 740 university students to
write about democracy, and is now producing a drama with
local university students as actors on how democracy can
improve socio-economic life, using the U.S. as a model. "The
U.S. is the most successful country because it is the most
democratic nation," he told us. Fares has also run tolerance
dialogues between MB and Christian university students, and
is planning a website for youth to discuss the same issues
that are covered in parliament. Fares said he is targeting
youth to teach them about democracy before they become
"corrupted" by either the NDP or the MB, which he viewed as
"backward and regressive." Fares said that SSIS does not
harass him for his activities.


9. (SBU) Director of the Human Development Association
Mohammed Mohi works to promote a culture of citizen
complaints and documentation. He worked with the Ibn
Khaldoun Center on USG-funded election monitoring in 2005,
and with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Mohi
wants to increase collaboration with the NED to expand his

CAIRO 00001393 003 OF 003


organization's complaints hotline. He is working with
Freedom House on a grant to investigate torture in three
governorates. Mohi said that he coordinated with other NGOs
and the media in 2008 to raise awareness of a police
torture-murder case that resulted in a court sentencing the
officer to 7 years in prison.


10. (U) Manager of the Al-Safwa Center for Legal Protection
Nabil Khalil described his work to spread awareness of
citizens' rights regarding the police and the electoral
system. He said the Mansoura electoral lists are inaccurate
and include the deceased. Khalil, a retired Interior
Ministry officer, said he wants to use his connections with
the MOI and parliament to affect positive change,
particularly in relations between the police and the
population.
Tueller