MEDIATION:A LONG succession of foreign diplomats and international dignitaries has come and gone from Cairo since the start of the Israeli offensive, but much of the work of brokering a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has fallen on the shoulders of one man.
Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s intelligence chief, has conducted over the past week tough negotiations with a Hamas delegation trying to find a workable compromise that could be presented to Israel to persuade it to end its offensive.
The temporary ceasefire now under discussion in Cairo will, if successful, be to a large extent the fruit of his labour.
The talks have been made more difficult by the suspicion between Egypt and Hamas, with Cairo viewing the Islamists as an obstacle to peace and disliking its close ties with its own outlawed Muslim Brotherhood opposition.
But Mr Suleiman, diplomats say, has a knack of inspiring confidence.
“He has the capacity to engage people like Hamas,” said a western diplomat who has met him often.
“They know that Egypt is looking after its own interests, but he manages to maintain his credibility with them and [even] the ability to get them to do what he wants.”
Described by the diplomat as a “great strategist”, Mr Suleiman is Egypt’s point man on the Palestinian question and indeed, on all regional dossiers considered to touch on national security such as Iran or relations with Sudan, the troubled southern neighbour.
A man who says little to the press and whose photograph started appearing only a few years ago, the intelligence chief is the second most powerful man in Egypt, after Hosni Mubarak, the president.
In his early 70s, some mention him as a potential successor to the 80-year-old president, though no one can point to any evidence that he hankers after the job. Those who cite his name speculate that a military man is more likely to take over the reins of power in Egypt.
Mr Suleiman is said to have gained the total confidence of the president when he persuaded him in 1995 to fly his armoured Mercedes to Ethiopia rather than use the unarmoured vehicle offered by his hosts.
As he was driven out of the airport in Addis Ababa with Mr Suleiman beside him, Mr Mubarak came under a hail of bullets fired by Islamist gunmen. The driver managed to turn back and the president escaped unscathed.
Mr Suleiman has been Egypt’s spymaster since the early 1990s, but his name only became public in 2000 after the start of the second Palestinian intifada when he mediated – forcing a break with the earlier tradition of keeping the identity of the intelligence chief secret.
A tall, slim man with balding hair, thin moustache and piercing eyes, he can often be glimpsed in the front row at press conferences given by Mr Mubarak whenever there is a visiting Israeli leader.
Respected by Israel as well as by his western interlocutors, Mr Suleiman plays a central role in Egypt’s complex relations with the Jewish state. As Mr Mubarak’s envoy, he has travelled to Jerusalem repeatedly for talks with Israeli leaders often at times of crisis.
As Egypt’s chief negotiator, Mr Suleiman has had success brokering truces between Israel and the Palestinians and even helping smooth relations between rival Palestinian factions.
There have been setbacks, such as the Islamists’ seizure of power in Gaza in 2007 in which the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, favoured by Egypt, was ousted.
But the absence of other credible mediators who can talk to both Hamas and Israel means the job of sorting out the mess seems invariably to return to Egypt and Mr Suleiman. – (Financial Times)