VZCZCXRO7348
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DE RUEHEG #2031/01 2951608
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P 221608Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3981
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 002031 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/ELA FOR SHAMPAIGN AND PINA 
NSC FOR KUMAR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PKDEM PHUM EG
SUBJECT: POLICE HARASSMENT AT NOUR EVENT 
 
REF: A. CAIRO 1857 
     ¶B. 2005 CAIRO 4264 
     ¶C. 2005 CAIRO 8034 
     ¶D. 2005 CAIRO 7450 
     ¶E. 2005 CAIRO 2285 
     ¶F. 2005 CAIRO 9209 
 
Classified By: Minister-Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs 
Donald A. Blome for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Key Points: 
 
-- (C) Ayman Nour confirmed reports of police harassment at 
an event for artists and poets held on the evening of October 
21 in support of his campaign against succession.  Items 
seized by police were returned except a laptop used to store 
information about the campaign.  Nour associate Ahmed Abdel 
Gawad was released after a half hour in custody. 
 
-- (C) Nour launched the "Egyptian Campaign Against 
Succession" on October 14, but is no longer heading it. 
Cairo University Professor Hassan Nafaa has taken the lead. 
Nour's campaign includes the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), 
political movements like "April 6" and Kifaya and some 
opposition parties. 
 
-- (C) Nour will file a complaint on the police "raid" with 
the Public Prosecutor.  Nour also told us of a second 
complaint he intends to file alleging security services were 
complicit in bringing charges against him in 2005. 
 
¶2. (C) Comment:  Following his release, Nour has remained 
active in the political scene despite the restrictions 
against him (Reftel A).  The recent announcement of the 
"Egyptian Campaign Against Succession" (ECAS) has been his 
highest profile effort to date and has clearly piqued the 
interest of the security services.  MB participation in the 
ECAS is likely also of concern to the GoE.  He has indicated 
to us in the past that he had "evidence of collusion" by 
members of the security services in bringing the case against 
him in 2005.  He said he was "waiting for the right time to 
use it."  We do not have any indication that this "evidence" 
(which we have not seen) will aid in any way in overturning 
his conviction.  Nour's anti-succession campaign received a 
lot of press attention but has been less successful in 
garnering the participation of mainstream opposition forces. 
The naming of the well-respected Dr. Hassan Nafaa to lead 
ECAS might be seen as a way to draw those members of the 
opposition who speak out against succession but are not fans 
of Ayman Nour.  End Comment. 
 
¶3. (C) Ayman Nour confirmed to us reports of police 
harassment at an October 21 event at the Ayman Nour Cultural 
Center in Bab El-Shaariyya. (Note:  This is a community 
center in Nour's former constituency that he has used to host 
El Ghad Party events.  It is also used by the local community 
for other private events.  End Note.)  The celebration was to 
highlight support by artists and poets for the Nour-initiated 
"Egyptian Campaign Against Succession" launched on October 
¶14.  The coalition is now being led by Cairo University 
professor and political commentator Dr. Hassan Nafaa.  Nour 
has told us he will step down from a primary leadership role 
but that he has retained control of ECAS's "organizational" 
and "activities" committees.  Kifaya activist George Is'haq 
will lead the Legal Committee (focused on possible 
constitutional reform).  A yet-to be named MB member will 
head the Political Committee.  ECAS will also have an 
Economic Committee and a committee focused on tracking 
government efforts to "promote" Gamal Mubarak.  Participants 
in the Coalition include El Ghad, April 6, Kifaya, Amal 
(Note:  The Islamist party not associated with Egypt's labor 
movement that was shut down by the Political Parties Affairs 
Committee.  End Note.), Anwar Sadat's Reform and Development 
Party, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Karama party, the 
Communist Party of Egypt (Note: Founded in 2002, they have 
not applied for registration as a legal party, citing the 
hostile environment for the opposition.  End Note.) and 
individual but not official participation by members of the 
Democratic Front Party (DFP), the Nasserist Party, Tagammu 
(the liberal socialist party) and the Wafd.  Media report 
that Dr. Nafaa will reach out to these parties to urge them 
to join ECAS or at least announce their support for its 
goals.   On October 22, the independent daily Al Masry Al Yom 
reported that DFP leader Osama El Ghazali Harb announced his 
support for ECAS along with his party's rejection of a 6th 
term for President Mubarak and the succession of Gamal 
Mubarak using the slogan "A true Egyptian says NO to 
succession," borrowed from the national railway campaign "A 
true Egyptian says NO to wrong-doing." 
 
CAIRO 00002031  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶4. (C) According to Nour and Sayed Bassiouny (El Ghad 
Assistant Secretary General and President of the Alexandria 
Committee), festivities began early and included patriotic 
songs played on a loud speaker.  At seven p.m. uniformed 
officers entered the gathering saying they were responding to 
complaints from neighbors about the noise.  They detained 
Nour associate Ahmed Abdel Gawad, took possession of a laptop 
(which reportedly includes information about the campaign 
against succession), a projector and two amplifiers.  Gawad 
was released after a half hour in police custody.  All items 
taken but the laptop have been returned.  Nour confirmed that 
he arrived at eight p.m. after police had left the center. 
Separately, Bassiouny confirmed there was no damage to the 
center and no one was harmed.  Neither Nour nor Bassiouny 
were able confirm claims made to the Blog Bikya Misr that 
fifty officers raided the event.  Nour told us that he had 
commented on the event to several newspapers.  We have not 
yet seen significant coverage of this event in the media. 
 
¶5. (C) In a conversation on the morning of October 22 while 
Nour was on his way to the Public Prosecutors office, he said 
that the October 21 incident had crossed a line and he had 
decided to file an official complaint.  Nour also told us 
that he will file a second complaint today alleging 
complicity of State Security Investigations Services (SSIS) 
officers in the case filed against him in 2005. 
Specifically, Nour claimed to have a 2005 letter sent by 
Regab Hillal Hameida, an MP affiliated with the 
pro-government "parallel" El Ghad party led by former Nour 
confidante Musa Musa and formed in 2005 (Reftels B, C and D), 
to Lieutenant Colonel Amr Mohsen, whom Nour calls the officer 
in charge of "political party activity."  The letter makes 
allegations that Nour was an "agent" of the U.S. government 
and had secretly received funding for his 2005 presidential 
campaign from the U.S.  According to Nour it was this 
document that began the original investigation against him. 
Nour alleges that these accusations were manufactured and 
when not corroborated, charges he forged signatures in 
support of the Ghad Party license were brought against him 
(Reftels E and F).  Nour added that Lt.Col. Mohsen had been 
present at the October 21 "raid" at his cultural center. 
Scobey