STATE SPONSORSHIP OF TERRORISM NON-PAPER DELIVERED

UNCLAS DJIBOUTI 001181 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PREL DJ SUBJECT: STATE SPONSORSHIP OF TERRORISM NON-PAPER DELIVERED REF: SECSTATE 187644 ¶1. (U) Poloff delivered non-paper per reftel 7 September to Mohamed Omar Djama, Americas Desk Officer in the Bilateral Relations section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Djama could not provide an official reaction to the non-paper, but told PolOff he would try to get a response soon. However, Djama did note the communiqu printed in the 8 September edition of La Nation, the national newspaper, from the 20th Session of the Council of Ministers. Djama highlighted that the Council condemned the terrorist hostage taking in Beslan, Russia and the hostage taking of the French journalist in Iraq. Djama continued, that each country has to make a stand one way or another on terrorism. ¶2. (U) Following is text of Council of Ministers statement on Terrorism (Unofficial Translation): Begin Text - At the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Council of Ministers has condemned the bloody hostage taking, which ended with the massacre of innocents in the town of Beslan in Russia. The Government of Djibouti shares the suffering of the friendly people of Russia affected by this tragedy without precedent and expresses its saddened condolences and its compassion. The Council of Ministers has also expressed its worries over the kidnapping of the two French journalists in Iraq and has condemned this hostage taking and demanded their immediate release. The Council has also demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails without judgment and in conditions which degrade daily. End Text. RAGSDALE