Military luxury: Al-Masah Hotel in Cairo

Al-Masah Hotel and Spa describes itself as a place "to escape the noise and the pollution" of Cairo, a place to enjoy quiet, contemplative moments sitting under a pergola with the drink of your choice.

"Since 2006, al-Masah Hotel has been the Cairo home for international heads of state and politicians, but our passion has always been the same: to share with you the most gracious of Egyptian hospitality," according to its chief executive, Major-General Mohamed Ameen Nasr.

Yes, its chief executive is a major-general because the hotel is owned and run by the Egyptian military.

Guests expecting a normal hotel have sometimes been taken aback by this. One, writing on TripAdvisor, describes it as 
a luxurious detention centre: "The annoying part is the extreme security measures. No water, or any sort of food is allowed in, cameras have to be kept at reception and so on."

Anyway, this will be the luxurious but oddly inappropriate venue for a conference on December 5 and 6 about democracy in Egypt.

But if you read the blurb and the agenda carefully the conference not quite what it seems. This is the latest round in Egypt's war-of-the-democrats – between the "military democrats" on one side and the "religious democrats" on the other. More specifically, it's aimed at getting international media to take a more sympathetic view of Egypt's post-Morsi regime. The blurb says:

"International media have showcased different visions and interpretations of what is happening in Egypt. For many international observers and analysts, the picture seemed to be not well-understood, either because of unawareness of Egyptian culture, or pushed by biased international political standing not favouring the will of Egyptians and endeavouring to achieve certain political gains or regional projects, or even in sympathy with certain political principles that do not consider the reflections on Egypt. 

"Therefore, some Egyptians took the initiative to transparently clarify the reality of events in order for the global audience to closely realise the true reasons and outcomes of Egypt’s turmoil caused by the ousted regime …"

The "some Egyptians" who took this initiative are known as EGCODS (the Egyptian Council for Democracy Support) and include some who formerly supported the revolution against Mubarak. Rather incredibly, they also claim the conference is  
sponsored by various European media organisations including the BBC, Le Figaro in France, the Italian news agency ANSA, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and News Talk in Ireland.

The conference is obviously well funded and foreign journalists have been getting all-expenses-paid invitations to attend.

Jack Shenker, former Cairo correspondent of the Guardian, who now lives in Britain, was one of those invited. Four hours after receiving an email invitation from EGCODS, he received another email from the Egyptian embassy in London, urging him to accept.

Intrigued that a little-known NGO appeared to have the resources of the Egyptian diplomatic service at its disposal, Shenker enquired further. His correspondence with the embassy is here.

    
Posted by Brian Whitaker
Saturday, 23 November 2013