Embassy officials noted that their skepticism "leaps instantly from the favt that he has revealed much more than we would have considered prudent."
THE MAY 1989 MEETING
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In May, embassy officials met with "a young lawyer of 'The Islamic Group' (or Jihad as it is called by the government)." The meeting came after "repeated recent contacts" between al-Gama'a and U.S. diplomats, the cable states.
The May cable is addressed only to the Secretary of State, the consul in Alexandria and the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. It is signed by Wisner and classified "secret" and "department only."
The lawyer repeated the figure of 150,000 to 200,000 members and reiterated other key points from the April cable. Embassy officers believed this figure included a loose group of "sympathizers" and did not "represent an Islamic revolutionary vanguard."
He claimed "he was informing us about his group as a result of a 'change in thinking' within the group."
Al-Gama'a was "concerned about the 'radical and violent image' of the group presented by the government," according to the lawyer.
The laywer said an individual, whose name was redacted, "had persuaded them that U.S. diplomats were 'sincere,' so they decided to present this 'true picture' directly to" embassy officers. It's not clear whether this is a reference to the individual described in the April cable, or whether that individual and the lawyer are the same person.
The cable states:
"[redacted] had told us separately that [redacted] had opined that the government was not persecuting the Muslim Brotherhood because the U.S. was 'supporting' the Muslim Brotherhood against the more radical Islamic trends. On this widely accepted conspiratorial premise, the 'Islamic Group' may be making its own bid for outside support."
An embassy officer told the lawyer that "the U.S. does not intervene in internal affairs nor support any group of any sort against the government of Egypt."
Among the points and claims made by the lawyer:
