A recent story in the independent newspaper Al-Masri Al-Youm has the American University in Cairo up in arms after it insinuated that AUC was providing the US Department of Defense with “information about Egypt,” i.e. “spying,” through the US Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU – 3) program.
From the Daily News Egypt:
NAMRU-3, which was established in 1946, works closely with Egypt’s Ministry of Health, conducting research and surveillance to support military personnel deployed to Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia, according to its official website.”
“Since 2006, AUC has had a contract with the US Naval Medical Research Unit in Egypt (NAMRU – 3) to recruit and provide scientific staff in support of infectious disease research throughout the region, specifically relating to Avian Flu. The total value of this contract since 2006 is $1,964,035, i.e. $600,000 per year for the basic award, plus an additional $164,035 for travel expenses in the 2008 renewal,” the statement explained.
Here’s a piece from an AUC journalism professor bashing Al-Masri Al-Youm for shoddy journalism:
…like any lazy student, the newspaper didn’t do its homework.
For instance, though the story ran across the top of its front page, the newspaper did not actually report the story itself. Instead, it published what it received from America in Arabic, an ethnic newswire in Washington, DC.
What that newswire did to discover this contract was what anyone with an internet connection could have done: it visited www.usaspending.gov, the website where the US government publishes records of its non-classified spending — so much for a “secret” deal.
Al-Masry Al-Youm would have known all of this, had they done any reporting on their own, such as possibly calling AUC and the US embassy in Cairo to find out what the funding was for, or actually sending a reporter to AUC to check out NAMRU’s work here.
But its editors chose not to, as it has been explained to me, because they wanted to publish what they had.
Despite AUC’s response to the article, the (most likely minor) damage has probably already been done. Egypt has an obsession with conspiracy theories and many Egyptians resent their government’s dealings with the US, especially in light of what they see as its unwillingness to stand up to US involvement in the region, particularly when it comes to Israel.
And it’s really no surprise that the Navy is doing research in Egypt; the two countries have a longstanding relationship on both the economic and military fronts. The US will provide Egypt with $1.3 billion in military aid this year.
Egypt could really benefit from the research being done on Avian Flu at NAMRU-3 these days, especially as Egyptians unfortunately continue to contract the disease. In addition, the popular Egyptian blog “Egyptian Chronicles” has reported that an Egyptian MP has accused the US and, no surprise here, Israel, of actually spreading Avian Flu through the NAMRU-3 lab.
