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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 002332 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KPAO KMDR OPRC EG
SUBJECT:  EGYPTIAN MEDIA THEMES, April 10-17. 
 
¶1. Summary:  Several stories received extensive coverage 
and commentary in the Egyptian media this week.  President 
Mubaraks provocative comments in his Al-Arabiya TV 
interview of April 8 provided a source of debate for 
pundits to assess the situation in Iraq.  Similarly, 
commentators used the recent New Yorker article regarding 
U.S. consideration of a military strike on Iran as a 
springboard for critiquing U.S. policy on Irans nuclear 
ambitions.  Finally, there was extensive commentary 
following the Coptic church attacks and sectarian clashes 
in Alexandria over the weekend.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  Mubarak Speaks:  The Egyptian Presidents remarks to 
Al-Arabiya about near-civil war in Iraq and Irans control 
rol 
over Iraqi Shiites, and the subsequent Iraqi decision to 
boycott an Arab ministerial meeting in protest, 
reverberated in the media for several days following the 
interview.  Opinions ranged from critical in the 
independent press to defensive in the pro-government press. 
A columnist for the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom 
(circulation:  80,000) wished that the Presidential 
councilors had advised Mubarak to speak in more diplomatic 
terms, since his image reflects on the country (April 12). 
The pro-government daily Al-Akhbar (circulation: 350,000), 
however, defended Mubaraks comments, publishing letters 
from readers supportive of the remarks and writing that the 
President had expressed the same concern that we feel and 
dread with the continuity of the horrible civil war in 
Iraq (April 11). 
 
¶3.  Some independent commentators were also critical of the 
local content of Mubaraks interview.  A commentator in Al- 
Masry Al-Yom remarked that the Presidents comment that he 
t  e 
is very comfortable with the state of the Egyptian street 
suggests that there must be something wrong, since the 
nicest way to describe the current street is as 
extremely worrying (April 12).  An editorialist in the 
opposition Al-Wafd paper (circulation: 50,000) criticized 
the President for saying that there is no need to have a 
Vice-President and wrote that Mubaraks comments on the 
state of the country left us more worried about the 
future (April 13). 
 
¶4.  Iran:  The recent New Yorker article claiming that the 
U.S. is considering a military strike on Irans nuclear 
infrastructure received wide play in the Egyptian media. 
Most pro-government and independent papers argued that 
there was not in fact a great deal of enthusiasm in the 
U.S. military establishment for a military option, and all 
commentators reflected the oft-repeated Egyptian stance 
calling for universal regional nuclear disarmament.  A 
commentator in the pro-government Al-Akhbar wrote that 
wrote that 
there may be plans to launch an American-British attack on 
Iran, noting sarcastically that if they should in the end 
be proven wrong about Irans nuclear program, they could 
just say that they had made a mistake, as with Iraq 
(April 11).  The editor-in-chief of Nahdet Misr 
(independent daily, circulation: 13,500) wrote that 
nuclear chaos will be the outcome of the U.S. policy of 
double standards on nuclear issues and called for the UN 
to stop both Israel and Iran from developing a nuclear 
weapon (April 13).  An unsigned editorial in pro-government 
Al-Ahram (circulation: 350,000) warned that allowing Iran 
to acquire a nuclear weapon could lead to a regional 
nuclear arms race (April 16).  A columnist in pro- 
government Al-Ahram even worried that an Israeli-Iranian 
nuclear axis could one day develop and be used to threaten 
the Arab Gulf states (April 17). 
 
¶5.  Sectarian Clashes:  There was universal condemnation in 
all media of the attack on three Coptic churches in 
hes in 
Alexandria on April 14 and the ensuing clashes between 
Muslims and Copts, with all commentators calling for 
national unity and more efforts to confront extremism. 
Both pro-government and independent media were critical of 
the official response, particularly the Ministry of 
Interiors description of the church attacker as a 
deranged lunatic.  A commentator in pro-government Al- 
Ahram wrote that the Ministrys statement was an insult to 
peoples intelligence (April 17).  Pro-government Rose El- 
Youssef (circulation: 15,000) wrote that the Ministry 
should find a more appropriate word to describe the 
attacker and should not make descriptive announcements 
until the investigation has concluded (April 16).  A 
columnist for independent Al-Masry Al-Yom also criticized 
the Governor of Alexandria who said that a 78-year old 
Coptic man had died of old age, rather than from the 
grievous knife wounds he had sustained during the church 
attack (April 17). 
 
Ricciardone