Omar Suleiman - Public Image and Perception

Public Image and Perception

Al Jazeera described Omar Suleiman as the unelected Vice President of Egypt, éminence grise to President Hosni Mubarak, and point man for Egypt's secret relations with Israel. Jane Mayer of The New Yorker noted that Suleiman remained controversial because he "has headed the feared Egyptian general intelligence service" and also described his role in allowing controversial torture methods under US rendition programs which may have generated bad intelligence.

In turn, Suleiman blamed journalists for the current uprising in Egypt. "I actually blame certain friendly nations who have television channels, they're not friendly at all, who have intensified the youth against the nation and the state," Suleiman said in a TV address. "They have filled in the minds of the youth with wrongdoings, with allegations and this is unacceptable. They should have never done that. They should have never sent this enemy spirit," he said. The Committee to Protect Journalists replied that "it is stupefying that the government continues to send out thugs and plainclothes police to attack journalists and to ransack media bureaus". State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said "we have traced it to elements close to the government, or the ruling party," and said "I don't know that we have a sense how far up the chain it went."