The Egypt Crisis

U.S. Government Worked with Egyptian Activists to Form "Unwritten Plan
for Democratic Transition in 2011.

U.S. role in Egypt crisis "shameful"-Chavez
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/us-role-in-egypt-crisis-shameful-chavez/

US supported Egypt pro-democracy activists (Jerusalem Post):
A 2008 diplomatic cable from the US Embassy in Cairo leaked by WikiLeaks on Friday shows another side to the United States '
relationship with Egypt in recent years. The cable outlines how the State Department helped an
Egyptian pro-democracy
activist attend a "Youth Movements Summit" in New
York and how the unnamed activist presented an
" unwritten plan for democratic transition in 2011. " While the United States has
received criticism for its support of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak 's
regime in the face of anti-government protests, the newly released cable indicates that the US was also supporting his detractors. It notes State Department efforts to apply pressure on Egypt in order to have dissidents released
from custody.

The cable also described meetings that the Egyptian
activist held with US
members of congress.
Among those he met with in 2008 were
Representative Edward Royce and current chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. The pro-
democracy activist told embassy officials that one of the congressmen even
invited him to speak at a congressional hearing scheduled for early 2009
regarding "religious and
political freedom in Egypt."
Perhaps most relevant to current events in Egypt was an aspect of the plan for "a
transition to a
parliamentary democracy"
before the scheduled 2011 [Egyptian] presidential
elections. " He claims that a
range of opposition groups," including the Wafd,
Nasserite, Karama and
Tagammu parties, and the Muslim Brotherhood, Kifaya,
and Revolutionary Socialist movements " all supported
the unwritten plan.
Furthermore, he says that the opposition groups were
interested in "receiving
support from the army and the police for a transitional
government.

"
The US attitudes expressed in the diplomatic document
are skeptical and cautious;
plans are described as
uncorroborated and "highly unrealistic." The diplomat
who authored the report noted that the activist 's
goals are at odds with
mainstream "opposition
politicians and activists."

ACTIVIST ON HIS U.S. VISIT AND REGIME 12-30-2008 (WikiLeaks):
1. (C) Summary and
comment: On December 23,
April 6 activist
XXXXXXXXXXXX expressed satisfaction with his participation in
the December 3-5 "Alliance
of Youth Movements
Summit," and
with his subsequent
meetings with USG officials, on Capitol
Hill, and with think tanks.
He described how State Security
(SSIS) detained him at the Cairo airport upon his return and
confiscated his notes for his summit presentation calling for democratic change in Egypt, and his schedule for
his Congressional meetings.
XXXXXXXXXXXX contended that the GOE will never undertake significant reform, and therefore, Egyptians need to replace the current
regime with a parliamentary
democracy.

He alleged that
several opposition parties and movements have accepted an unwritten plan for democratic
transition by 2011; we are doubtful of this claim.
XXXXXXXXXXXX said that although SSIS recently released two April 6 activists, it also arrested
three additional group members.
We have pressed the MFA for the release of these April 6
activists. April 6's stated
goal of replacing the current regime with a
parliamentary democracy prior to the 2011 presidential elections is highly unrealistic, and is not
supported by the
mainstream opposition.

End summary and
comment.