This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 005743

SIPDIS

NSC STAFF FOR POUNDS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2015

TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO OPRC EG

SUBJECT: CHARGE DISCUSSES RADIO SAWA AND FOREIGN

CORRESPONDENTS´ ACCESS WITH INFORMATION MINISTER EL FEKKI

REF: CAIRO 5514

Classified by Charge Stuart Jones for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

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Summary

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¶1. (C) Charge and PAC met with Information Minister Anas Al Fekki on July 26 to urge that GOE allow Radio Sawa to create a broadcast facility in Egypt and to relay the complaint from foreign correspondents stationed here that they lack on-the-record access to GOE officials. The Minister agreed to meet with Broadcasting Board of Governors´ (BBG) representatives to explain his plan for revising the law that prohibits non-government ownership of broadcasting and thus to enable Sawa to broadcast within Egypt. But he firmly rejected linking Sawa with aid to Egypt, saying that the GOE would rather forfeit the aid than look like it was leapfrogging the law in response to U.S. pressure. Such an approach, he said, would badly damage the public image of the U.S.-Egyptian partnership and destroy any chance of getting a broadcast facility for Sawa. Portraying himself as a liberal reformer who favors a free media climate, the Minister pointed to sweeping changes in the Information Ministry, which controls the pervasive state TV and radio. He highlighted the real-time and unfettered coverage by Egyptian TV of the Sharm el Sheikh bombings and his own efforts to ensure free and balanced access by all Presidential candidates to the broadcast media. End Summary.

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Radio Sawa: Changing the Law is the Best Approach

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¶2. (C) During his introductory call, the Charge raised the need for Sawa to broadcast from a transmitter within Egypt in order to reach the desired audience, noting that the two governments have been working on this through their envoys for years. Charge emphasized that the U.S. Congress takes this issue very seriously -- to the extent that 227 million dollars in aid may be linked to a resolution of the issue. Minister El Fekky said he rejected this linkage on principle, stating that he has nothing against Sawa and fully realizes the negative impact of Law 13 of 1979, but that the right approach is to overhaul the law and open up the airwaves to non-GOE broadcasters across the board. He cited his own efforts and those of other GOE officials over the years, including EGIS Director Soliman, to find a loophole for the proposed Sawa FM station )- but to no avail. Tying Sawa to economic assistance would ruin the chances for a Sawa transmitter in Egypt. The GOE, he stated, would rather walk away from the hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid than be seen as submitting to pressure. This would damage what he described as a comprehensive media campaign to highlight the strategic benefits of the U.S.-Egyptian relationship to the ordinary Egyptian.

¶3. (C) The Charge expressed his appreciation for the Minister´s efforts to find a way to accommodate Sawa, but reiterated the seriousness of the situation. He proposed that Minister El Fekki meet with representatives from the BBG who were prepared to come to Egypt. The Minister immediately agreed to a meeting, but strongly urged that the plan to build a Sawa transmitter not be publicized in the media. The Charge handed the Minister the BBG letter of July 22 outlining the proposal to establish an FM transmitting facility. PAC will follow up with the Minister´s Office and the BBG regarding the BBG visit.

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Better Access to GOE for Foreign Correspondents

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¶4. (C) Charge relayed the complaint from foreign correspondents -) which they conveyed to Deputy Secretary Zoellick during his recent visit here -- that they face difficulties in getting GOE officials to discuss political reform and the elections on the record. By comparison, according to the journalists, the opposition spokesmen were very ready to make quotable statements, resulting in an imbalance. The Minister pointed to numerous media tours and other activities aimed at the foreign media, including some highly critical Western journalists, but admitted that the GOE officials were not as accessible as opposition figures like Ayman Nour. "We´re also busy working," he said. However, he promised to promote a more forward-leaning approach for senior officials, saying that he would have the new head of an outreach effort to foreign journalists hold a meeting with the resident foreign correspondents next week. (Note: Charge plans to host a lunch next week with locally based foreign reporters to hear first-hand about their access to GOE officials. End note.)

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Free and Balanced TV Access for Election Candidates

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¶5. (U) Reminded of Secretary Rice´s remarks in Cairo urging media access for opposition politicians in the upcoming presidential election, the Minister said that he is committed to allowing all candidates balanced access to GOE-controlled TV. He had rejected a study submitted to the Board of Governors of the Egyptian Radio-TV Union (ERTU), he said, because it had included only 60 minutes per day of airtime for the candidates. The candidates, he stated, should be able to be on the air three times a day and TV should cover their platform statements liberally. Nor should state TV favor the incumbent by airing old documentary footage. "The Egyptian taxpayer -- whether Ayman Nour or anyone else -- pays for our TV," he stated. He cited a recent taped debate between two opposition figures in which they strongly criticized the government. During the debate one candidate said "I´m sure you,ll edit out that comment," but the Minister said he had the program aired in its entirety including this remark.

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Sharm Explosions and Egyptian TV ) Almost in Real Time

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¶6. (C) The Minister also boasted that Egyptian TV was first on hand to cover the bombings in Sharm el Sheikh. An Egyptian TV reporter had been staying in the Ghazaleh hotel when it was bombed and had immediately phoned headquarters. He was told to start shooting the scenes of mayhem immediately, and indeed Egyptian TV was the mainstay of CNN and other international coverage throughout the night. El Fekki contrasted this real-time proactive approach with the recent Taba and Khan al Khalili bombings, when -) against his better judgment -- he had waited for the green light from the Interior Ministry and been scooped by foreign broadcasters. "This time I didn´t ask anyone, I told them to go ahead and shoot." President Mubarak later told him: "You did the right thing."

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Comment: A New Style at the Information Ministry

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¶7. (SBU) Charge and PAC found Minister El-Fekki to be refreshingly open and candid about his plans for the formidable Egyptian broadcast establishment. We believe that he intends to do everything in his power to open the state-controlled media, and has already taken some positive steps. Time will tell to what extent opposition candidates get airtime and balanced coverage and whether the unfettered approach to fast-breaking crises like the Sharm attacks persists. Regarding Sawa transmission, we will continue to emphasize the need to make Sawa broadcasts accessible to a wide Egyptian audience as one of the benchmarks of the Minister´s stated goal of a more liberal broadcast environment. Post urges that the BBG act on the Minister´s opening by visiting Cairo at the earliest opportunity. End comment.

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JONES