GUELLEH WILL NOT TRAVEL TO SUDAN DESPITE SALEH'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L DJIBOUTI 001618

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/23/2014
TAGS: DJ ODIP PREL SA SO SU YM
SUBJECT: GUELLEH WILL NOT TRAVEL TO SUDAN DESPITE SALEH'S
URGING

REF: A. DJIBOUTI 1617


B. SANAA 3144

C. STATE 271223

D. KHARTOUM 1717

Classified By: Ambassador Marguerita Ragsdale.
For reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Minister of Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, confirmed today that
Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh will not/not travel
to Sudan at the end of the month to attend the axis meeting
of Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen (see reftel A). Youssouf told
Ambassador Ragsdale that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh
did talk to Guelleh via phone earlier this week and attempted
to convince him to attend the meeting, but that Guelleh
reiterated the standing Djiboutian position on the axis: It
has an anti-Eritrean political agenda and that meetings
promoting regional welfare should include all Horn of Africa
states or be mediated through IGAD (see reftel A). Djibouti
does not wish to embark on such a program, Youssouf said.
RAGSDALE