The inner circle of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been hit by a fresh wave of leaked alleged audio recordings, casting doubt on the security of the president's confidants.
The purported leaks, first broadcast by opposition news channel Mekameleen on Tuesday night, appear to contain significant revelations about the level of internal opposition to Sisi from within the upper echelons of his political circle.
The discussions – with voices attributed to Sisi himself, as well as his foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry – relate to recent events, including a bombing in December 2016 and a meeting between Shoukry and then-US Vice President-elect Mike Pence later that month.
The fresh batch of leaks comes 18 months after earlier recordings – also made public by Mekameleen – revealed far-reaching Emirati “interference” in Egypt, as well as the extent of Sisi’s control over domestic media outlets.
Those leaks were the result of a phone-tapping operation that targeted Sisi’s chief of staff, Kamel Abbas.
An investigation of the earlier leaks by independent audio forensics experts in the UK revealed a “moderately strong” probability that the taped conversations were genuine.
The new leaks could not be immediately verified.
Meeting with Mike Pence
In the first of five recordings, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is heard discussing his meeting with Pence early in December.
“I’ve just arrived back from a meeting with the vice president-elect,” Shoukry says in the recording.
“I conveyed to him and through him to the president [elect Donald Trump] your message of congratulations and interest in working jointly to confront challenges, as well as the importance of restoring strategic relations.”
Relations between Cairo and Washington, traditionally strong allies, have suffered serious setbacks over recent years since the military coup that brought Sisi to power in 2013.
Former US President Barack Obama halted weapons sales to Egypt in October 2013, and unfroze them in March 2015.
However, Obama continued to make critical statements regarding human rights in Egypt.
In contrast, Shoukry describes Pence as “very amicable,” saying he had expressed Trump’s support for “working with Egypt to achieve stability in the region and fighting terrorism to finish it off”.
Shoukry also references meetings with the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think-tank, as well as media outlets based in the US.
Positive interactions with Clinton team
A separate earlier discussion between Shoukry and Sisi suggested that Hillary Clinton - then running for US president - had resisted pressure to take a hard line on Egypt.
Shoukry, apparently speaking in October 2016, suggests Clinton opted instead for friendly relations with Sisi, despite earlier criticism of his human rights record.
“One of [Clinton’s] assistants, who was in the Obama administration, had proposed an extreme position, but she preferred to interact with Egypt,” Shoukry says, according to the leaks.
“She believes that giving Egypt incentives is the ideal means for dealing with the issue, rather than putting us under pressure.”
