VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #0913 1251447
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041447Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9150
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS CAIRO 000913 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
NSC STAFF FOR PASCUAL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV KDEM EG
SUBJECT: EGYPTIAN COURT DISMISSES LAWSUITS AGAINST 
DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST, OTHERS REMAIN PENDING 
 
REF: 07 CAIRO 3455 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
1.(SBU)  On April 29, a Cairo court dismissed two civil 
lawsuits accusing Egyptian democracy activist Saad Eddin 
Ibrahim of "being a fugitive" and "giving information to a 
foreign country."  The lawsuits, one filed by the leader of a 
minuscule political party and the other by a presidential 
appointee to Egypt's Shoura Council, were part of a group of 
up to twenty lawsuits filed against Ibrahim and the Ibn 
Khaldoun Center (IKC), which he directs (and which receives 
USG financial support), in late 2007 by political figures 
claiming to be acting individually (reftel).  Over the last 
several months, Egypt's courts have consistently ruled in 
Ibrahim's favor, dismissing lawsuits and even awarding him 
damages in a libel action he filed against the nominally 
independent, pro-government, Rose Al Yousef newspaper. 
According to the IKC, only "5 or 6" of the cases remain 
pending against Ibrahim, and all cases against the IKC have 
been dismissed. 
 
2.(SBU)  Comment:  The lawsuits are a tactic by government 
supporters and others seeking to burnish nationalist 
credentials and to curry favor with elements of the 
government that hate Ibrahim, in order to maintain pressure 
on him and the IKC and keep him out of the country (he is 
currently residing in Istanbul). Egypt's courts have not been 
complicit, as they handle these cases expeditiously and 
transparently, despite many of the plaintiffs' close ties to 
the government. 
SCOBEY