US secretly backed Egyptian protest leaders

US secretly backed Egyptian protest leaders

By Nathan Diebenow
Friday, January 28th, 2011 -- 8:27 pm

For the last three years, the US government secretly provided aid to the leaders behind this week's social uprising in Egypt aimed to topple the government of President Hosni Mubarak, according to a leaked diplomatic cable.

One of the young Egyptian leaders who attended a summit for activists in New York with the help of the US embassy in Cairo was detained when he returned to Egypt, the memo released by Wikileaks said.

The Daily Telegraph reported Friday that it and the secrets outlet were both hiding the identity of this young Egyptian leader. He was arrested in connection with this week's demonstrations.

The leaked document indicates that the US government was publicly supporting Mubarak's government while privately backing opposition groups.

A plan concocted by the dissident groups to oust Mubarak and install a democratic government prior to the September 2011 elections was relayed to the American Embassy in Cairo.

Margaret Scobey, the US Ambassador in Cairo, said in the memo to the US Secretary of State in Washington D.C. that she questioned the likelihood that such an action would happen.

Other cables revealed, however, the US diplomats had sought out the opposition groups, one of whose members attended a youth summit in Washington organized by the State Department.

This week's protests in Egypt were instigated by a group of young, educated Egyptians known as the "April 6 youth movement," which has a presence on the social network site Facebook.

The Scobey memo was labeled "April 6 activist on his US visit and regime change in Egypt."

The Egyptian government has blacked out the Internet and other telecommunications in a move to quell the protester's organization.

in a brief television appearance Friday, US President Barack Obama called on President Mubarak to restore telecommunications to the Egyptian people and on both sides to refrain from violence.