WikiLeaks: Israel's secret hotline to the man tipped to replace Mubarak

[babsbunny]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8309792/WikiLeaks-Israels-secret-hotline-to-the-man-tipped-to-replace-Mubarak.html

The new vice-president of Egypt, Omar Suleiman, is a long-standing favourite of Israel's who spoke daily to the Tel Aviv government via a secret "hotline" to Cairo, leaked documents disclose.

By Tim Ross, Christopher Hope, Steven Swinford and Adrian Blomfield 9:25PM GMT 07 Feb 2011

Mr Suleiman, who is widely tipped to take over from Hosni Mubarak as president, was named as Israel's preferred candidate for the job after discussions with American officials in 2008.

As a key figure working for Middle East peace, he once suggested that Israeli troops would be "welcome" to invade Egypt to stop weapons being smuggled to Hamas terrorists in neighbouring Gaza.

The details, which emerged in secret files obtained by WikiLeaks and passed to The Daily Telegraph, come after Mr Suleiman began talks with opposition groups on the future for Egypt's government.

On Saturday, Mr Suleiman won the backing of Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, to lead the "transition" to democracy after two weeks of demonstrations calling for President Mubarak to resign.

[Fumesucker]

1. I wonder how this news will play in Cairo?

The more we learn about this guy the more he appears a vicious and unprincipled puppet.

[leveymg]

2. What did FDR say about Somoza: "He may be a SOB, but he's our Son of a Bitch."

Yup - cable shows this transition (and outcome) has been in the works for a long time.