US groups had hand in Arab protests

A number of groups and individuals involved in the revolts,including the April 6 Youth Movement in Egypt,Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and activists like Entsar Qadhi,a youth leader in Yemen,got training and financing from groups like the International Republican Institute,National Democratic Institute and Freedom House,a human rights organisation based in Washington,according to interviews and US diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks.

The work of these groups often provoked tensions between the US and many Middle Eastern leaders,according to the cables. The Republican and Democratic institutes are loosely affiliated with the Republican and Democratic Parties. They are financed through the National Endowment for Democracy,which was set up in 1983. The National Endowment receives about 100 million annually from Congress.

Some Egyptian youth leaders attended a 2008 technology meeting in New York,where they were taught to use social networking and mobile technologies to promote democracy. Among those sponsoring the meet were Facebook,Google,MTV and the State Department. We learned how to organise, said Bashem Fathy,a founder of the youth movement that drove Egyptian uprisings. Qadhi,the Yemeni youth activist,attended US training sessions in Yemen. It helped me very much because I used to think that change only takes place by force, she said.RON NIXON