According to some Arabic reports, a former employee of the Bill Clinton Foundation has had his assets frozen by the Egyptian government. Gehad El-Haddad is also known to have been the deputy chief of staff to a prominent Muslim Brotherhood figure in Egypt.
Via Al-Bayan (Translation):
Sources revealed yesterday that as Egyptian government bodies and committees were following up on files regarding the funds of Brotherhood members, it is facing extreme difficulties in reaching specific information about stocks, funds and contributions from leaders in the group named in the lists of the reservation and the freezing of funds. The sources said that investigations into the funds of businessman Khairat Al-Shater, deputy Brotherhood leader, Essam al-Haddad, and Gehad al-Haddad, and Abdulrahman of Saudi Arabia, revealed new surprises. It was found that Al-Shater, originally put forward as the group’s presidential candidate, seems to have transfered the shares in many companies to a number of his relatives and some of his in-laws of men and women. He then completed the process after the victory of Mohammed Morsi in the presidential election of 2012.
According to 24E (United Arab Emirates media outlet), Al-Shater’s role with the Muslim Brotherhood may have been even more powerful than previously thought (Translated):
While Mohammed Mursi was the first president elected after the revolution in January (2011) and who arrived in the presidential palace as the senior Muslim Brotherhood leader to hold that position, al-Shater was the common denominator in all critical moments dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood agenda after the revolution.
The article then quotes Abdul Jalil Sharnouby, editor of Ikhwan Online, the official Muslim Brotherhood publication:
“Al-Shater was not seeking to be seen as president. He wanted the position of Caliph across the international organization. He saw his candidacy for president of Egypt as a first step toward what he views as a Brotherhood world leader.”
According to El-Fagr, another Arabic source, the Egyptian equivalent of Wikileaks may be unfolding. The contents allegedly reveal the names of individuals who received money from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. Among the names published by the website were Wael Ghonim, Ahmed Maher, and Gehad El-Haddad.
Some may remember that Ghonim was the Google employee who – along with Maher – was credited with leading the social networking revolution that saw Mubarak step down from power. Ghonim was held up as a hero by western mainstream media outlets, including CNN.
Ahmed Maher was also a major player in the 2011 revolution and even made his way stateside during the dawn of the Occupy Wall Street protests, presumably to provide guidance and training. He has been arrested by the current Egyptian government for agitating and sowing chaos in Egypt. If he is being paid by the U.S. Embassy for doing so, such a scenario would be in line with several reports and claims that the Obama administration is working behind the scenes to excite domestic insurrections in Egypt. In one instance, claims attributed to Mursi’s wife include a very close alliance between her, Hillary Clinton, and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Daily News Egypt is also reporting on the current government’s freezing of hundreds of Brotherhood assets and names several, including El-Haddad’s father:
State-owned news agency MENA reported that the list includes the Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, his deputies Khairat Al-Shater, Rashad Bayoumi, Mahmoud Ezzat and Gomaa Amin.
The list also includes Supreme Guidance bureau members Essam Al-Haddad, Mahmoud Ghozlan, Abdel Rahman Al-Bar and Mohey Hamed. Pakinam Al-Sharkawy, a political adviser of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, and leading Brotherhood figures Amr Darrag and Mohamed Ali Bishr were also included on the list.
Last month, we wrote about Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) Sarah Leah Whitson and her call for the release of Essam El-Haddad. The history of Whitson and HRW point to a friendly relationship with the Clintons.
Some might remember that back in August, Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns went to Egypt and seemed to take great interest in Muslim Brotherhood deputy Khairat al-Shater. Burns met with al-Shater for 90 minutes, despite attempts by al-Shater’s chief of staff (and former Clinton employee )Gehad El-Haddad to diminish the length of the meeting to 10 minutes. The expressed purpose of the meeting was to help mediate an agreement between the Muslim Brotherhood and the new Egyptian government, which presumably would have included Al-Shater’s release.
In light of the image of Al-Shater being portrayed as a “common denominator” and a stronger power broker than was previously believed, that may help to explain why the State Department / Obama administration seemed to have”S more interest in Al-Shater than in Mursi. There were reports from several Arabic sources last August that Al-Shater’s son (Saad) claimed that his father has documents and recordings that can do great damage to the Obama administration. Soon thereafter, the younger Al-Shater was arrested. Fox News reported that the reason for his arrest was that Saad had…
“…threatened to release documents allegedly showing ties between his father and U.S. President Barack Obama.”
It would be a significant development indeed, if it is proven that Muslim Brotherhood leaders and operatives – especially a former Clinton employee – was receiving funds from the U.S. Embassy.