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UNCLAS CAIRO 000465 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KPAO KMDR OPRC EG
SUBJECT:  EGYPTIAN MEDIA THEMES, January 17-23. 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Media focus this past week was mainly on 
domestic issues.   A visit by Vice President Cheney 
prompted discussion of issues that have already been 
controversial in the press, including the U.S.s intentions 
toward the region and Iranian nuclear proliferation. 
Reports in the U.S. media that the FTA negotiations have 
stalled raised the ire of some commentators against the 
U.S., but also seemed to prompt more reflection on Egypts 
role in the region, and the potential for progress in the 
Arab and Islamic worlds.  Interestingly, there was only one 
commentary and little substantive news coverage of the 
Iraqi elections.  End summary. 
¶2.  Free Trade Agreement hanging fire:  Vice President 
t 
Cheneys visit to Cairo coincided with news reports in the 
U.S. media, picked up by local ones, that progress on the 
FTA negotiations would be linked to advances on the 
political liberalization front.   Editorials ensued in many 
papers, including Egypt's two largest pro-government 
papers, Al-Ahram (circ. 750,000) and Al-Akhbar (800,000), 
using the visit to highlight Egypts importance to the 
U.S., and to caution the U.S. administration not to take 
Egypt for granted.  On January 21, the editor-in-chief of 
Al-Akhbars weekly edition, Akhbar Al-Yom, criticized 
American voices that "threaten to cut off assistance or 
the FTA talks" as being "indifferent to the status of Egypt 
and its role as a leader of the Islamic and Arab world and 
a factor for peace in the region."  The editor countered 
that an FTA "would serve the U.S. as well as Egypt. 
Nevertheless, the U.S. should recognize that shared 
interests between the two countries do not mean that Egypt 
gypt 
would disregard its national interests."  The editor-in- 
chief of Al-Ahram published three editorials in the past 
week, all commenting positively on the Vice Presidents 
visit and the strength of the relationship, while 
cautioning the U.S. in the same vein.  For example, on 
January 20, he noted that the visit reflected a "noticeable 
development in bilateral relations and that although 
differences in opinion exist, the U.S. has come to realize 
Egypt's wisdom."  He concluded that "the U.S. should 
remember that reform comes from within, not from foreign 
pressure, but that the U.S. can assist other nations to 
achieve democracy." 
¶4.  Introspection on the role of Islam in the world:  Some 
commentators in the past week looked more closely at the 
prevailing mindset in the Arab and Islamic worlds, and the 
ability of this region to re-define itself and make 
progress.  Three Al-Ahram columnists wrote about Islam and 
the lack of progress in the Arab world on Jan. 21 alone. 
The first provided statistics showing that 80 percent of 
the Arab population is conservative politically and 
religiously and has reservations about reform and 
democracy, while 19 percent are reformists and 1 percent 
extremist. The columnist opined that "the 19 percent of 
reformists should be supported lest they join the first or 
last groups." He also called for the "incorporation of 
moderate Islamic and political groups in the battle against 
violence and extremism."  The second criticized Arab 
silence over the rising "Islamaphobia" in the west, and the 
third remarked that the fatal stampede in the Hajj 
"happened because Muslim minds are dominated by the culture 
of extremism and fanaticism."  There were also negative 
reactions to the Bin Laden tape aired on Al-Jazeera TV, 
such as Salah Eissa who lashed out in the medium 
circulation (70-90,000) opposition daily, Al-Wafd against 
Bin Laden for not serving Arab interests but rather those 
of the U.S., and that he had not sought the opinion of the 
Arab people when he committed the September 11 operations." 
The article concluded by ridiculing Bin Laden's call for a 
truce. 
¶5.  Iranian nukes:  During the past week, columnists and 
editors continued their debate over Iran's nuclear 
intentions and the world's reaction thereto.  A Jan. 19 
editorial by small circulation (20,000) independent weekly, 
Nahdet Masr's editor-in-chief reflected how the Iranian 
nuclear issue, and the potential global response to it, has 
caused a defensive reaction in many Egyptians.  The article 
simultaneously blamed the U.S. for looking for more 
military action in the region, blamed Israel's possession 
of nuclear weapons as the impetus for Irans building up 
its own capability, and declared that nobody wants a region 
with nuclear weapons at all. The article concluded that the 
U.S. simply wants to protect Israel.  Al-Akhbar's Ibrahim 
Seida, on the same day, criticized the Iranian president 
for being more concerned about his television image than 
with the "escalating global animosity against him." 
Almost all commentators and editors concluded that the 
escalation of tensions between Iran and the international 
community could have devastating effects on the entire 
region.   As expressed in Al-Ahram's unsigned editorial of 
January 19, "a peaceful resolution is needed, as the whole 
region is entangled and inflamed." 
Ricciardone