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UNCLAS CAIRO 006133 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/PD FOR FRANK FINVER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER KPAO KMDR OPRC EG
SUBJECT:  HERE COME THE CANDIDATES:  EGYPTIAN MEDIA 
THEMES, AUGUST 1 TO 8 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The media reported at length on the 
candidates who had registered for Egypt's presidential 
elections.  Although the pro-government media continued to 
devote the majority of their coverage to Mubarak's 
candidacy, they also gave prominent coverage to the 
candidacies of two other politicians  namely, Noaman Gomaa 
of Al-Wafd and Ayman Nour of Al-Ghad.  Throughout the week, 
commentaries on the candidates and the electoral process 
eclipsed all other issues.  One TV program discussed the 
subject of election monitoring, with two guests (both NDP 
members) claiming it was not necessary.  On another 
subject, the same TV program also featured Al-Qaeda leader 
Ayman Al-Zawahiri's uncle and an Egyptian Interior Ministry 
official who claimed to have once interrogated Al-Zawahiri. 
Though the guests found little they had little in common, 
both agreed that Al-Zawahiri was a man of "bitterness" and 
"revenge."  End summary. 
 
¶2.  Presidential elections:  While President Mubarak 
continues to garner bold headlines and top-of-the-hour TV 
coverage in the pro-government media, opposition and 
independent candidates are receiving exposure (though still 
limited in comparison).  The Chairman of Al-Wafd, Noaman 
Gomaa, appeared on Channel 2's popular program "Al-Bayt 
Baytak" ("Make Yourself at Home") on August 3 to discuss 
his candidacy.  The head of the Tagamu' party appeared on 
the same program to encourage Gomaa's candidacy and 
criticized the pro-government media for covering Mubarak's 
speeches "word by word."  The headline in leading pro- 
government daily Al-Ahram (circulation: 750,000) on August 
7 read "Mubarak Promises to Increase Income and Job 
Opportunities," followed by the subheading "Noaman Gomaa: 
New Constitution, Abolish State Security, and Free all 
Detainees.  Ayman Nour:  Abolish Laws Suppressing Freedom 
and Write New Laws to Take Ministers to Court."  Half of 
the front page article was devoted to Mubarak and the 
remaining space to Noaman Gomaa and Ayman Nour.  Pro- 
government daily Al-Akhbar (circulation: 800,000) printed 
small photos and the names of 26 candidates on its August 7 
front page.  Ardently pro-government Al-Gomhouriya 
(circulation: 500,000) focused on NDP Chairman Safwat El 
Sherif's praise of Mubarak's "program for the future."  The 
most extensive coverage of candidates by an independent 
newspaper appeared in Nahdet Masr (circulation: 20,000), 
which last week profiled a different candidate, each day, 
in a half-page spread on the third page. 
 
¶3.  Election monitors:  "We don't need foreign intervention 
in our elections.  If there was an intention to hold 
counterfeit  elections, why did the President change the 
Constitution in the first place?" reasoned the Dean of 
Alexandria University and a NDP member on Dream TV's "10 
p.m." program on August 7.  Another guest, a professor of 
International Law (and also an NDP member), claimed that 
monitors were "not necessary," since existing legal 
procedures "ensure fair elections."  An Al-Wafd party 
leader also appeared on the program, stating, 
"International monitors are useless, as the government has 
its own ways to counterfeit the elections that observers 
won't notice."  Media commentary on the issue of 
international monitoring largely died down the past week, 
replaced by discussions of the candidates and the electoral 
process. 
 
¶4.  Terrorism:  Dream TV's "10 p.m." program on August 7 
also hosted Ayman Al-Zawahiri's uncle and lawyer, Mahfouz 
Azam.  Azam argued that his nephew "is defending Islamic 
countries from U.S. occupation, such as in Afghanistan and 
Iraq" and stated that "the way Egyptian security dealt with 
him created bitterness in him."  A former Assistant 
Interior Minister who claimed that he once interrogated Al- 
Zawahiri also appeared on the program.  After saying that 
Al-Zawahiri was a man "full of revenge," he attacked Al- 
Qaeda for killing Muslim civilians.  "Why don't they 
operate against Israel, instead?" he argued.  "They're the 
biggest enemy of Islam."  A columnist in opposition Al-Wafd 
(circulation: 70,000) on August 7 criticized an Al-Jazeera 
talk show for having hosted an Iraqi guest who supported 
terrorism in Iraq.  The same day, a conservative 
commentator in Al-Ahram pleaded with religious institutions 
to "play a more assertive role to take a stand against 
terrorist ideology." 
 
JONES