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| Africa North | ||
| America's secret backing for a rebel leader behind uprising | ||
| 2011-01-29 | ||
The American government secretly backed leading figures behind the Egyptian uprising who have been planning "regime change" for the past three years, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
On his return to Cairo in December 2008, the activist told US diplomats that an alliance of opposition groups had drawn up a plan to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak and install a democratic government in 2011. He has already been arrested by Egyptian security in connection with the demonstrations and his identity is being protected by The Daily Telegraph. The disclosures, contained in previously secret US diplomatic dispatches released by the WikiLeaks website, show American officials pressed the Egyptian government to release other dissidents who had been detained by the police.
In a secret diplomatic dispatch, sent on December 30 2008, Margaret Scobey, the US Ambassador to Cairo, recorded that opposition groups had allegedly drawn up secret plans for "regime change" to take place before elections, scheduled for September this year. The memo, which Ambassador Scobey sent to the US Secretary of State in Washington DC, was marked "confidential" and headed: "April 6 activist on his US visit and regime change in Egypt." It said the activist claimed "several opposition forces" had "agreed to support an unwritten plan for a transition to a parliamentary democracy, involving a weakened presidency and an empowered prime minister and parliament, before the scheduled 2011 presidential elections". The embassy's source said the plan was "so sensitive it cannot be written down". Ambassador Scobey questioned whether such an "unrealistic" plot could work, or ever even existed. However, the documents showed that the activist had been approached by US diplomats and received extensive support for his pro-democracy campaign from officials in Washington. The embassy helped the campaigner attend a "summit" for youth activists in New York, which was organised by the US State Department. Cairo embassy officials warned Washington that the activist's identity must be kept secret because he could face "retribution" when he returned to Egypt. He had already allegedly been tortured for three days by Egyptian state security after he was arrested for taking part in a protest some years earlier. The protests in Egypt are being driven by the April 6 youth movement, a group on Facebook that has attracted mainly young and educated members opposed to Mr Mubarak. The group has about 70,000 members and uses social networking sites to orchestrate protests and report on their activities. The documents released by WikiLeaks reveal US Embassy officials were in regular contact with the activist throughout 2008 and 2009, considering him one of their most reliable sources for information about human rights abuses. | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 Meeting = backing? Words = backing? My interpretation of "backing" has always been money + training + weaponry. We "backed" the Afghan opposition during the Soviet-Afghan War. We "talked" with the Egyptian opposition to figure out what they were about. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2011-01-29 17:28 |
| #2 The memo, which Ambassador Scobey sent to the US Secretary of State in Washington DC, was marked "confidential". Excuse me folks, but a confidential memo isn't very secret at all. Ambassador Scobey questioned whether such an "unrealistic" plot could work, or ever even existed. Sounds to me like the ambassador didn't take this very seriously and America's involvement has been minimal. Mountain out of mole hill. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2011-01-29 12:42 |
| #1 Mubarak just appointed Omar Suleiman as Egypt's first VP, with his sons fleeing to London. The former spy chief has lefty Gen. Wesley Clark support...hmmm. Positive democratic transition or major crackdown coming??? And we know how the tranzi plans worked so well in Iraq...billions are still unaccounted for there. Egypt is the 4th largest recipiient of US aid, too. |
| Posted by: Gerthudion Unump7993 2011-01-29 11:01 |