THE "AL-AHRAR" PARTY IN ALEXANDRIA: THE ISLAMIC RIGHT RESURGENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALEXANDRIA 01048

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (TEXT)

E.O. 12356: DECL:OADR
TAGS: PGOV SOCI PINS PINR EG
SUBJECT: THE "AL-AHRAR" PARTY IN ALEXANDRIA: THE ISLAMIC RIGHT RESURGENT


1. CONFIDENTIAL -- ENTIRE TEXT.
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2. SUMMARY AND COMMENT: ONE OF THE MORE INTERESTING
PHENOMENA WITHIN EGYPT'S ESTABLISHED OPPOSITION PARTIES
OVER THE PAST SIX MONTHS HAS BEEN THE TRANSFORMATION
WITHIN THE "LIBERALS" OR "AL-AHRAR" PARTY. THROUGHOUT
THE 1970'S AND EARLY 1980'S, THE PARTY WAS PROBABLY THE
MOST BOURGEOIS AND PRO-WESTERN OF THE LEGAL OPPOSITION
PARTIES (IT INITIALLY EVEN SUPPORTED CAMP DAVID, SUPPORT
FOR WHICH HAS SINCE BEEN ABROGATED). THE PARTY'S WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER WAS WIDELY READ IN ALEXANDRIA, ESPECIALLY PRIOR
TO THE RE-PUBLICATION OF "AL-WAFD" NEWSPAPER WHICH NOW
WINS LOCAL POPULARITY CONTESTS. HOWEVER, SINCE THE
BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR, THE PARTY HAS BEEN INCREASINGLY
RADICALIZED BY A GROUP OF ISLAMIC ACTIVISTS WHO ARE
EXPANDING THEIR DOMINANCE OF THE PARTY STRUCTURE.
THE POST HAS RECENTLY ESTABLISHED CONTACT WITH A MEMBER
OF "AL-AHRAR'S" POLITBURO WHO OPPOSES THE INCREASED
ISLAMICIZATION AND WHO HAS DESCRIBED FOR US SOME OF
THE RECENT CHANGES IN THE PARTY. THIS SOURCE CONTINUES
TO BELIEVE THAT RELIGION FOR MANY OF EGYPT'S
YOUNG PEOPLE IS ONLY A FAD, BUT SHE STILL COULD NOT
CONCEAL HER CONCERN OVER WHAT HAS OCCURRED WITHIN
THE "AL-AHRAR" PARTY. IT IS FAR TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE
WHETHER THESE CHANGES WILL ALTER SIGNIFICANTLY THE
MINUTE STANDING THE "AL-AHRAR" PARTY HAS ON EGYPT'S
POLITICAL MAP, ALTHOUGH ITS IMPACT HAS BEEN FELT IN
ALEXANDRIA. AT A MINIMUM, THE INFUSION OF DYNAMIC,
YOUNGER BLOOD INTO AN ORGANIZATION WHICH HAD ALMOST
CEASED TO EXIST POLITICALLY IS CERTAIN TO INVIGORATE
THE LOCAL POLITICAL PROCESS IN
FUTURE POPULAR COUNCIL ELECTIONS AND TO GIVE THE
SQUABBLING AND DIVIDED LOCAL NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY
SOMETHING ELSE TO THINK ABOUT. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT.
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3. TRADITIONALLY, THE "AL-AHRAR" PARTY (OR "THE LIBERALS")
HAS ENJOYED ONLY A SMALL FOLLOWING IN ALEXANDRIA. ITS
MODERATELY LEFTIST, PRO-WESTERN POLICIES HAD
CONSIDERABLE APPEAL TO BUSINESSMEN, SMALL MERCHANTS,
AND THE MIDDLE CLASS GENERALLY, BUT THESE SAME ELEMENTS
TENDED TO SUPPORT EITHER THE RULING NDP OR THE
"WAFD".
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4. THE POST'S ATTENTION TO RECENT CHANGES WITHIN
"AL-AHRAR" DEVELOPED FOLLOWING THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT
SHAYKH SALAH ABU ISMAIL WAS PLANNING TO ADDRESS THE PARTY
FAITHFUL IN ALEXANDRIA ON SEPTEMBER 11, A DATE
WHICH COINCIDED WITH THE PERES-MUBARAK SUMMIT.
FOR SEVERAL YEARS, ABU ISMAIL HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MORE
ARTICULATE (AND RADICAL) PROPONENTS OF THE ISLAMIC
TENDENCY IN EGYPT. ALTHOUGH HE HAS CONTINUALLY ESCHEWED
VIOLENCE, HE HAS PROMOTED A VERY STRINGENT PROGRAM
REGARDING ADOPTION OF THE "SHARIA" (ISLAMIC LAW) AND
OTHER MEASURES DESIGNED TO MAKE EGYPT INTO SOME KIND
OF ILL-DEFINED ISLAMIC STATE. EARLIER THIS YEAR, ABU
ISMAIL AND A LARGE NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS JOINED THE
"AL-AHRAR" PARTY. ABU ISMAIL IS, IN EFFECT, THE
DRIVING FORCE IN THE PARTY BEHIND THE CHAIRMAN, MUSTAFA
KAMAL MURAD.
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5. CONGEN PERSONNEL RECENTLY CONTACTED MRS. RAGAA RASHAD,
AN ALEXANDRIAN LAWYER AND MEMBER OF THE PARTY'S POLITBURO
(SHE ALSO HEADS THE LIBERALS "WOMEN'S AFFAIRS" DEPARTMENT).
RASHAD (PLEASE PROTECT) IS A STRONG OPPONENT OF THE
RECENT CHANGES IN THE PARTY. IN A RECENT CONVERSATION,
SHE TALKED ABOUT ABU ISMAIL'S SEPTEMBER 11
CONVOCATION OF THE ALEXANDRIA BRANCH OF THE PARTY AND
DESCRIBED THE IMPACT OF THE ISLAMIC RIGHT'S INROADS.
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6. CONERNING THE FORMER, RASHAD DECLINED TO
GIVE TOO MANY DETAILS. SHE NOTED THAT ABU ISMAIL HAD
HIGHLIGHTED FOUR POINTS: (A) THE OPPOSITION
BOYCOTT OF THE SHURA COUNCIL ELECTIONS THIS FALL;
(B) THE IMPORTANCE OF THE APPLICATION OF THE "SHARIA";
(C) CONDEMNATION OF THE TORTURE OF "ISLAMIC GAMAAT"
MEMBERS IN PRISON (NOTE: THIS IS A CONSTANT THEME IN
THE OPPOSITION PRESS, AND ESPECIALLY IN "AL-WAFD", AS
READERS OF THE CAIRO PRESS REVIEW WILL NOTE.); AND
(D) "AL-AHRAR'S" OPPOSITION TO THE EGYPTIAN-ISRAELI
SUMMIT.
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7. ON THE RECENT CHANGES WITHIN THE "AL-AHRAR" PARTY,
RASHAD ARGUED THAT MANY OF THE PARTY'S KEY PRINCIPLES
HAVE CHANGED SINCE SHAYKH ABU ISMAIL "TOOK OVER."
PREVIOUSLY, THE PARTY BELIEVED THAT THE "SHARIA" WAS
ONE OF THE SOURCES FOR LEGISLATION. NOW, THE PARTY
HAS DETERMINED THAT "SHARIA" IS THE SOLE SOURCE OF
LEGISLATION. EVEN THE CHAIRMAN OF THE PARTY, MUSTAFA
KAMAL MURAD, HAS SEEMED TO CHANGE. RASHAD SAID THIS
OCCURRED FOLLOWING A VISIT TO SAUDI ARABIA. MURAD (WHO WAS
KNOWN IN ALEXANDRIA FOR HIS NIGHTLY BOUTS WITH JOHNNY
WALKER) IS LETTING HIS BEARD GROW AND IS BECOMING VERY
RELIGIOUS, ACCORDING TO RASHAD. OTHER SOURCES TELL US
HE HAS BECOME VERY MORIBUND IN HIS DIRECTION OF PARTY
ACTIVITIES AND SEEMS TO HAVE ABDICATED MUCH OF HIS
AUTHORITY TO ABU ISMAIL AND HIS SUPPORTERS.
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8. AS FOR THE NEW PARTY MEMBERS, MRS. RASHAD SAYS THAT
THE PARTY NOW SEEMS TO CONSIST OF VARIOUS SECTS OF
MUSLIM GROUPS. EACH GROUP, SHE ADDED, HAS A DIFFERENT
NAME, SUCH AS "THE REJECTION OF THE FORBIDDEN AND THE
REQUESTING OF FAIRNESS ASSOCIATION." SHE CHARACTERIZED
MOST OF THEM AS "RADICALS". MOST OF THE MEMBERS, SHE
SAID, ARE WELL-EDUCATED. MANY ARE PROFESSIONALS SUCH
AS DOCTORS, LAWYERS, AND PHARMACISTS. MOST OF THE WOMEN
ARE TOTALLY COVERED. EVEN THOSE WHO ARE EDUCATED (AND
MOST OF THEM ARE, ACCORDING TO THIS SOURCE) SEEM TO BELIEVE
THAT WOMEN SHOULD BE COVERED SO AS NOT TO ATTRACT
MEN AND THEREBY "COMMIT A SIN." EXPANDING ON THIS LOGIC,
SHE SAID THAT PROPONENTS OF THIS POLICY BELIEVE THAT IF
THE WOMAN HAS PRETTY HANDS, THEN THE HANDS HAVE TO BE
COVERED. ATTRACTIVE EYES ALSO HAVE TO BE COVERED, EITHER
BY WEARING GLASSES OR A VEIL. EVEN PHOTOGRAPHS
OF PEOPLE WHICH USED TO DECORATE PARTY OFFICES HAVE
BEEN REMOVED BECAUSE THEY ARE CONSIDERED
TABOO, ACCORDING TO RASHAD. IN A RELATED INCIDENT, SHE
REPORTED THAT ABU ISMAIL'S DEPUTY, SHAYKH YUSIF AL-BADRI
(AKA YOUSSEF EL BADRY) WAS ONCE INFURIATED BECAUSE
"AL-AHRAR" NEWSPAPER HAD PICTURED "NAKED WOMEN" ON
ONE OF ITS PAGES. MRS. RASHAD DISCOVERED LATER THAT
BY NAKED WOMEN, HE MEANT WOMEN WHOSE HAIR WAS NOT COVERED.
MRS. RASHAD HAS, HERSELF, COME UNDER PRESSURE TO WEAR THE
VEIL, BUT SHE HAS THUS FAR SUCCESSFULLY RESISTED.
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9. ASKED FOR HER VIEWS ON THE CURRENT APPEAL OF ISLAM
TO EGYPT'S YOUNG PEOPLE, RASHAD RECITED REASONS MENTIONED
BY MANY IN THE COUNTRY'S SECULAR POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT.
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC PRESSURES ARE CHIEFLY RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE RELIGIOUS REVIVAL, SHE SAID. NEVERTHELESS, SHE
QUESTIONED WHETHER THE ALL OF THE YOUNG MEN WHO WEAR
BEARDS AND CLAIM TO BE RELIGIOUS ARE
AS DEEPLY COMMITTED AS THEY STATE.
SHE RECALLED THE STORY OF A RELATIVE WHO
WAS A MEMBER OF ONE OF THE "SUNNI" (IN THIS CONTEXT,
"SUNNI" MEANS RELIGIOUSLY DEVOUT BEARDED PEOPLE) GROUPS.
HE FELL IN LOVE WITH A GIRL WHO WAS NOT
VEILED AND EVENTUALLY LEFT THE GROUP, SHAVED HIS BEARD,
AND ADOPTED A DECIDEDLY SECULAR LIFE STYLE.
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10. BIO NOTE: RAGAA RASHAD HAS LONG BEEN ACTIVE IN
HUMAN RIGHTS AND WOMEN'S AFFAIRS. IN THE LATTER CONTEXT,
SHE HAS ADVOCATED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMITTEE IN
ALEXANDRIA TO DEFEND WOMEN'S RIGHTS. SHE HAS PARTICIPATED
IN A NUMBER OF HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCES ABROAD AND,
LOCALLY, HAS LECTURED TO THE MUSLIM YOUTH ASSOCIATION
ABOUT CITIZENS' RIGHTS. A POLITICAL MODERATE, SHE IS
A LAWYER AND CURRENTLY IN CHARGE OF LEGAL AFFAIRS IN
ALEXANDRIA'S GUMRUK DISTRICK. TWO LOCAL ISSUES OF CURRENT
INTEREST TO HER ARE SOLUTION OF THE CITY'S ENORMOUS
SEWERAGE PROBLEM THROUGH COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AND
THE CONSTRUCTION OF DAY CARE NURSERIES TO HELP WORKING
WOMEN PLACE THEIR CHILDREN DURING THE DAY.


HAMBLEY