Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2015 | Page 30

Business As Usual: The Egyptian–U.S. Intelligence Relationship
For Egypt, the Arab Spring produced what is called the January 25 Revolution,
a diverse movement of demonstrations, marches, nonviolent civil resistance, and labor
strikes. Millions of Egyptian citizens from a variety of socioeconomic and religious
backgrounds demanded the overthrow of the regime of President Mubarak. There were
also important Islamic, liberal, anticapitalist, nationalist, and feminist undercurrents
of the revolution. Violent clashes between security forces and protesters resulted in at
least 846 people killed and 100,000 injured (“Egypt: Cairo's Tahrir Square Fills with
Protesters” 2011).
The primary demand from protesters was the end of Mubarak’s 30-year
presidency; however, some of the causes of the demonstrations included police brutality,
prolonged state of emergency laws, and lack of free elections and freedom of speech,
government corruption, high unemployment, food price inflation, poverty, and low
wages. Additionally, some specific complaints had to do with Egyptian intelligence
agencies free reign against anyone perceived to be the government’s opposition (Sharp
2014).
Following the failure of Mubarak’s regime and intelligence services to overcome
the conflict, Mubarak dissolved his government and appointed former head of the EGIS
Omar Suleiman as vice president in an attempt to quell dissent. Later, and in a response
to pressure, Mubarak announced he had not intended to seek reelection in September.
Mubarak’s presidency ended after 18 days of demonstrations during the 2011 Arab
Spring Revolution. On February 11, 2011 Vice President Suleiman announced that
Mubarak had resigned and transferred his power to the Supreme Council of the Armed
Forces.
On March 5, 2011 protesters raided SSIS buildings across Egypt, including the
headquarters in Alexandria and the main national headquarters in Cairo. Protesters
stated they raided the buildings to secure documents they believed to show various
crimes committed by the intelligence agency against the people of Egypt during
Mubarak’s rule (“Egypt Security Building Stormed” 2011).
On March 15, 2011 the Ministry of Interior announced the dissolution of SSIS
and the arrest of its leader under suspicion of ordering the killings of demonstrators.
The service was then replaced by EHS. Mubarak and both of his sons were later
detained for questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power. In August
2011, Mubarak was tried in court on charges of negligence for not giving orders to stop
the killing of peaceful protestors during the revolution; he later was sentenced to life
imprisonment.
A 2012 presidential election was held in Egypt in two rounds, the first on
May 23 and 24, and the second on June 16 and 17. The elections resulted in a win
for the Muslim Brotherhood’s second candidate, Muhammad Morsi, which was
the first victory of an Islamist as head of state in the Arab world. After Morsi took
office, his supporting party, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it needed to review all
previous international arrangements by the previous regime, stating “We weren’t
party to the peace treaty [referring to the issue of Israel], it was signed away from the
Egyptian people and thus the people must have its say” (Khoury 2012). In fact, the
Muslim Brotherhood explained that it was not required to recognize nor cooperate
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