Egypt protests: America's secret backing for rebel leaders behind uprising

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8289686/Egypt-protests-Americas-secret-backing-for-rebel-leaders-behind-uprising.html?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4d4337a4a2781dee%2C0


Egypt
Egypt protests: America's secret backing for rebel leaders behind uprising
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.

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Protesters and army on the streets of Cairo Photo: AP
Egypt's military has deployed troops and tanks to enforce curfew in the country's cities, as protests demanding the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak reached a crescendo.

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Protesters continue rioting on the streets of Cairo Photo: REUTERS
Egypt's military has deployed troops and tanks on the streets of cities torn by a day of rioting and chaos that has challenged the legitimacy of the thirty year old regime of Hosni Mubarak, the country's president.

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The Egyptian army moved on the streets of Cairo tonight to try and quell the protesters Photo: AP

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An Egyptian protester walks past burning vehicles inside the premises of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) headquarters Photo: EPA
Egypt's military has deployed troops and tanks to enforce curfew in the country's cities, as protests demanding the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak reached a crescendo.

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Rioters parade an Egyptian flag on the streets of Cairo Photo: REUTERS
By Tim Ross, Matthew Moore and Steven Swinford 9:23PM GMT 28 Jan 2011

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The American Embassy in Cairo helped a young dissident attend a US-sponsored summit for activists in New York, while working to keep his identity secret from Egyptian state police.

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 crisis in Egypt follows the toppling of Tunisian president Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali, who fled the country after widespread protests forced him from office.

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.