The US positioning Omar Suleiman is unsurprising given he has served American interests for decades

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is narrated to have said:

لاَ يُلْدَغُ الْمُؤْمِنُ مِنْ جُحْرٍ وَاحِدٍ مَرَّتَيْنِ

A believer is not bitten from the same hole twice (Bukhari/ Muslim)

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) made it clear in this narration that the believer is not to be fooled more than once by anyone, and that they should learn from their past experiences in order to ensure that no-one else is able to maintain the upper hand over them by deception and sweet-talk.

The current push by the Americans for the Egyptian opposition to negotiate with Omar Suleiman should be considered in the light of this narration, so that the Believer not only reads the Sunnah but also applies it learning from its wisdom and guidance.

Since the beginning of the crisis, the American administration has been angling Omar Suleiman into position to carry out a “smooth and orderly transition”.

So who is Omar Suleiman:

1.     The Washing Post detailed Omar Suleiman’s ties with the CIA. He is known the be one of the prime CIA and American assets in the region – he has worked as a stalwart of the Mubarak regime for decades and is known as the most powerful intelligence chief in the Arab world.

2.    In 2009, Foreign Policy magazine ranked Suleiman as the Middle East’s most powerful intelligence chief, ahead of Mossad chief Meir Dagan. The magazine revealed “More than from any other single factor, Suleiman’s influence stems from his unswerving loyalty to Mubarak.”

3.    Omar Suleiman worked closely with the CIA on their rendition program arranging the offshore torture of several Muslims, and is reputedly fiercely anti-Islam.

4.    [Former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt] Walker described the Egyptian counterpart, Suleiman, as “very bright, very realistic,” adding that he was cognizant that there was a downside to “some of the negative things that the Egyptians engaged in, of torture and so on. But he was not squeamish, by the way.” From an article by Stephen Soldz, The Torture Career of Egypt’s New Vice President: Omar Suleiman and the Rendition to Torture Program.

5.    Suleiman’s role in the rendition program was also highlighted in a Wikileakscable:

the context of the close and sustained cooperation between the USG and GOE on counterterrorism, Post believes that the written GOE assurances regarding the return of three Egyptians detained at Guantanamo (reftel) represent the firm commitment of the GOE to adhere to the requested principles. These assurances were passed directly from Egyptian General Intelligence Service (EGIS) Chief Soliman through liaison channels — the most effective communication path on this issue. General Soliman’s word is the GOE’s guarantee, and the GOE’s track record of cooperation on CT issues lends further support to this assessment. End summary.

6.    He has also been used as their point-man in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, particularly in the efforts to bring about supposed reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.

7.    Uncovered documents published by al-Jazeera relating to the Palestinian negotiations expose him as an obstacle rather than a facilitator to the Palestinian cause, with his anti-Hamas stance further highlighting his enmity to anything remotely Islamic.

Given the long experience Muslims have had with this man, knowing his hatred for Islam and his history of torturing and oppressing Muslims while working on behalf of his American controllers, to co-operate or negotiate with such a person rather than calling for their removal as part of the Mubarak regime would be to fall into being bitten twice from the same hole – something unfitting for any believer or indeed any thinking person.