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Viewing cable 06CAIRO1307, EGYPTIAN MEDIA THEMES, FEBRUARY 12-25.

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06CAIRO1307 2006-03-02 09:55 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Cairo
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 001307 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KPAO KMDR OPRC EG DA XZ IS XF
SUBJECT:  EGYPTIAN MEDIA THEMES, FEBRUARY 12-25. 
 
1.  Summary:  Due to the visit of Secretary Rice to Egypt 
last week, this weeks media summary covers the period of 
February 12-25.  During the first week of the reporting 
period (February 12-18), while 50 percent of commentaries 
focused on domestic issues, 18 percent contemplated 
tolerance of Islam and freedom of speech, with a heightened 
scrutiny against the ongoing violent reactions; and only 7 
percent showed a negative perspective toward the U.S. 
During the second week (February 19-25), news and 
commentary focused largely on reaction to reports of Avian 
Influenza in Egypt (34 percent) and Secretary Rices visit 
(14 percent), with negative commentary toward U.S. policies 
s 
in the region rising to 27 percent.  End Summary. 
2.  A Softening Tone.  Commentary regarding the Danish 
cartoon scandal continued, but opinion toward western 
intolerance softened as rhetoric against violence 
strengthened.  Writers also focused on the need for balance 
of press freedom and tolerance.  Al Mehwar TVs "VIP" 
program on February 12 advanced the view that "Muslims 
should not succumb to generalizations about the West's 
reaction to Islam, that not all of the West is against the 
Muslim world." The editor-in-chief of independent weekly, 
Nahdet Misr (circulation 20,000) scolded Muslims who 
themselves have hurt and humiliated their prophet and 
pushed the west to put Islam as their enemy. Readers of a 
February 12 column in pro-government daily, Al Ahram, 
learned that "people must express their anger in the proper 
way in order to achieve their rights."  Many commentators 
also ceded the need for press freedom, but focused on 
extracting positive outcomes from the controversy, namely, 
ely, 
achieving international legislation to ban blasphemy 
(opposition daily, Al-Wafd, February 14).  Many voices 
called for a peaceful method to express anger (Al-Ahram, 
February 14) and a dialogue among cultures to find the 
way to balance freedom of expression and respect for 
others beliefs. (Al-Ahram, February 14) 
3.  The Secretary in Cairo.  Secretary Rices visit to 
Egypt garnered widespread media attention, from 
straightforward news reporting to significant television 
and print commentary.  Between February 22 and 25, 
commentaries regarding the secretarys visit or U.S. 
policies rose to 30 percent, a significant percentage given 
the national Avian Influenza scare.  During February 22 and 
23, satellite and terrestrial television news and talk- 
shows concentrated on her visit and U.S. policies, to 
include frequent airing of her exclusive interview with 
Egyptian Television, and all major newspapers covered her 
visit to the region through February 25.  Opposition 
pposition 
papers, such as Al-Wafd, highlighted her visit with civil 
society figures, and quoted her as disappointed in 
Egypts political reform and the Hamas victory, but 
sensing that major changes have occurred since her June 
visit. (February 23).  According to independent daily, Al- 
Masry Al-Yom, Secretary Rice told civil society figures 
that the U.S. will continue to pressure the GOE on 
reform, and the paper indicated that the group was 
disappointed by her refusal to meet with the Muslim 
Brotherhood. (Feb. 24) In the opinion pages, commentary in 
the independent papers was critical, with postulations that 
her visit was made to prepare for a military attack on 
Iran (Al Masry Al Yom, February 21), to interfere in 
Egypts domestic issues (Nahdet Misr, February 21) and to 
convince the GOE to pressure Hamas and support the U.S. 
position on Iran. (Nahdet Misr, February 22) Some 
criticized the U.S.s ridiculous slogans about democracy 
and characterized discussions about Egypts democracy as 
t  democracy as 
blackmail. (Nahdet Misr, February 21 and 22)  At the same 
time, opinion pieces in large, pro-government daily, Al- 
Ahram (February 23) pointed to Secretary Rices friendly 
statements as proof of the depth of U.S.-Egypt 
relations.  However, others saw such conciliatory remarks 
as contradictory and confusing given the postponement of 
the FTA talks.  (Al-Akhbar, February 23). 
4. Rumorville.  The February 18 announcement that Avian 
Influenza was found in birds in several provinces in Egypt 
created a national scare, second only to the rumor spread 
on February 22nd that the Nile was contaminated with bird 
flu.  The government turned to the media to calm public 
fears and commentators began to focus on the government 
response.  On February 21 and 22, most of the evening news 
and talk programs focused on bird flu, and hosted health 
experts and government officials to calm fears of human 
transmission. Some programs showed NDP representatives and 
government health officials eating cooked chicken and 
cken and 
drinking tap water.  Commentators largely called upon the 
GOE officials to collaborate with each other and take 
strong action.  A senior columnist in  Al-Masry Al-Yom, 
advanced a conspiracy theory that the government knew of 
the bird flu and is trying to contain the bird flu in 
order to cover for the ferry disaster, while the papers 
editor-in-chief urged that this is a time for national 
unity and praised the government for speaking openly and 
honestly. (February 22)  Other papers asked the government 
to spread awareness through the media, (Nahdet Misr, 
February 22) to encourage transparency to help people make 
necessary sacrifices (Al-Gomhouriyya, Feb. 24) and asked 
the people to take up the challenge themselves to combat 
the illness. (Al-Akhbar, February 22) 
5.  The U.S. Image.  The week of February 20-25 saw a rise 
in negative commentary toward the U.S. in both television 
and print for the first time in 2006.  The re-release of 
e re-release of 
photos of Abu-Ghreib, the concern with civil war in Iraq, 
differences of opinion over Hamas and the ongoing setback 
to the FTA discussions led to a concentration of 
commentaries regarding U.S. policies in Egypt and 
regionally.  On February 22, Channel Ones evening talk 
show included a discussion on Guantanamo Bay with a human 
rights expert predicting that U.S.s torture crimes would 
lead to trials like Saddam Husseins one day.  Nile TV on 
the same evening hosted a former GOE minister who rejected 
wholly U.S. assistance and FTA negotiations if it meant 
choosing against supporting Hamas. Pro-government daily, 
Al-Gomhouriyya, characterized U.S. policies around the 
world as catastrophic and told readers that the U.S. 
occupation forces plotted the explosions in Iraq. 
(February 23) Columns in pro-government daily, Al-Ahram, on 
February 25 blamed the U.S. for chaos and sectarian 
strife in the region, and opposition daily, Al-Wafd 
criticized President Bush over Iraqi torture at the hands 
e at the hands 
of American soldiers and Americas false freedom and 
democracy.  (February 22) 
Ricciardone 
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