Epstein Secrets

likely not have happened without a serious reappraisal by Egypt of its foreign-policy goals in general, and the Arab-Israeli conflict in particular. Cairo seems to have concluded that playing an activist role will better serve its interests, and is increasingly determined to play an independent and piv

ters, Khaddam's mercenaries, Muslim Brothers, Salafists, al-Qaida terrorists, and sleeper cells planted by the former Egyptian Chief of Intelligence Omar Suleiman of fomenting sedition in Syria. Students at Damascus University also issued a statement on Friday, accusing Iranian and Hizbullah students of collab

was tall and handsome, well-spoken in French and English, and ran the General Intelligence Service from a gleaming modern office set in a park in Cairo. U.S., Israeli and European officials intelligence officials saw him as one of the bright lights of the new government. This praise may have made m

lestinian file well." Because of Muwafi's growing reputation with Western governments, some worried that he might position himself as another Gen. Omar Suleiman, the charismatic intelligence chief who was the closest adviser to President Hosni Mubarak and ran some of the country's harshest counterterrorism

h proclamations as, "we will crush them," "I see their heads and they are ripe for plucking," "one hundred thousand armed men are ready to march on Cairo if the people call for the fall of the government," and "bombs will be planted among the crowds of peaceful demonstrators and these bombs will reap

regime refused to pass a "political isolation" law, which would have banned former Mubarak regime affiliates from political activity; that is until Omar Suleiman announced that he would run for president. They also concealed from the public the results of the fact- finding report on rights violations from Jan

rael has continued to build in the West Bank. Television footage of Abbas and Hamas politburo head Khaled Meshal clasping each other's shoulders in Cairo in May was accordingly greeted with hope, but also much wariness, in Ramallah. "They are like two prisoners fighting over scraps of bread, instead

er of Economy Hasan Abu Libdeh rubbed shoulders in the crowd with former Preventive Security chief Jibril Rajoub, the West Bank's onetime answer to Omar Suleiman. "I'm not responsible for the division!" one beaming functionary said, only furthering the impression that politicians had themselves become spect

of Hamas' miscalculations was expecting Egypt to be supportive of its actions, which, when combined with Israel's fear of alienating the regime in Cairo, would allow Hamas to escalate the conflict without it spinning out of control. The hope was not off base. In August, Egyptian President Mohamed E

a major war. The visit paid by [Egyptian Prime Minister] Hisham Qandil to Gaza was no more politically valuable than those conducted by the late Omar Suleiman, the former head of Egyptian intelligence during the Mubarak era. Qandil's statements of condemnation do not scare Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli

o fears that the generals might use the election as an opportunity to put one over their most powerful challenger — rumors have abounded lately in Cairo about the possibility of a presidential run by Omar Suleiman, Mubarak's former intelligence chief and figurative "Hand of the King." Alternately, th

an opportunity to put one over their most powerful challenger — rumors have abounded lately in Cairo about the possibility of a presidential run by Omar Suleiman, Mubarak's former intelligence chief and figurative "Hand of the King." Alternately, the generals could throw the military's not inconsiderable wei

upply, there is no dearth of hopeless young people, whose numbers will continue to grow in the coming years. Indeed, whatever resemblance events on Cairo's Tahrir Square bear to May 1968 in Paris and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, it would be premature to proclaim that freedom has prevailed. Wh

officers initially stood with him, quietly supporting his transfer of governing power to his newly appointed vice president and longtime confidant, Omar Suleiman. But when strong-arm tactics by security irregulars failed to suppress the massive demonstrations in Tahrir Square, the senior officer corps, who