SUMMARY OF DECEMBER ACTIVITIES AT AMEMBASSY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 000021

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: DJ ECON EFIN KPAO PREL
SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF DECEMBER ACTIVITIES AT AMEMBASSY
DJIBOUTI

SUMMARY: (U) This is a summary of the activities at Embassy
Djibouti for the month of December.

DJIBOUTI-SOMALIA RELATIONS
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Charge Tim Smith, AF/E Deputy Director Phil Carter and
POLoff Erinn Reed met with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Secretary for Bilateral Relations, Miriam Gumaneh, regarding

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the Djibouti-Somalia relations, as well as, the current state
of Djibouti-U.S. relations. Ms. Gumaneh described the
actions of the Djiboutian government in the peace process for
Somalia. Both parties agreed that Djibouti,s role was
important. Ms. Gumaneh stressed that Somalia needs to make
its own agreement, but that Djibouti would be willing to act
as a facilitator.
Mr. Carter assured Ms. Gumaneh that the U.S. position on
Somalia was the same and questioned the feasibility of the
process if the TNG did not participate. Mr. Carter addressed
the U.S. stance on Somaliland/Somalia separation, saying that
we would like to see the Somaliland region stay stable. He
also stated that if the peace conference was a failure, the
U.S. would have to rethink the policy on separation, but
would follow the lead of the African Union. Ms. Gumaneh
stated that if the two agreed to separate amicably, the
African Union would support it.

IMF PANEL VISIT
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The International Monetary Fund sent a panel of
delegates to take stock of the program's progress. The panel
met with Charge Tim Smith and POLOFF Erinn Reed at the
Embassy December 10, 2003 to inquire about the monies given
to the Djiboutian government by the U.S. Their main task was
to reconcile the amount that the 2003 and 2004 Djiboutian
budgets showed with the amounts reported from the U.S.
organizations. The members of the IMF panel made it known to
the Charge and the POLoff that Djibouti would need to show a
strong track record in economic policy over the next years if
it were to receive another IMF program.
The panel's visit ended with a Donors, meeting on
December 13, 2003 to discuss the progress and plan for the
IMF presence in Djibouti. POLoff Erinn Reed and the Econ
Assistant attended the meeting. The meeting was focused on
the implementation of a Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) and a
review of the Djiboutian economic budget. The SMP is to be
the mechanism through which the Djiboutian government can
build a track record, after which the IMF will consider
whether the country is sufficiently dedicated to policy
reform to receive a Fund Financial Arrangement. The
governments actions will be closely monitored by a permanent
representative from the IMF here in Djibouti and several
Article IV consultations.

DJIBOUTIAN OFFICIALS VISIT TO IRAN
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President Ismail Omar Guelleh and several cabinet
officials made a state visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran
(IRI). The agenda was discussions of increased cooperation
between the two governments. The IRI and Djibouti signed a
number of memoranda on cooperation in the economic,
industrial and mining sectors. The agreements emphasized the
need for broadening the economic ties between the two
countries, private and government sectors. Several programs
to aid the Republic of Djibouti were also granted. A loan was
granted for building a new office for the Djiboutian National
Assembly and a commercial center. The Iranian Red Cross also
promised to help in Djibouti's health program. In the
education domain, Iran promised to grant scholarships to
students majoring in computer science.
Discussions also included the African continent's conflicts,
fighting and crisis. President Khatami complimented
President Guelleh,s effort in restoring of peace and
stability in Somalia.
The two parties condemned the atrocities and violence of
Sharon's government against Palestinian people. They also
condemned those who try to distort the image of Islam. They
also lashed out at any act of terrorism.
On Iraq issues, they reaffirmed the need to preserve Iraq's
territorial integrity, national unity and called for
withdrawal of occupiers from the country and led the people
govern their own country.
The two leaders called for peaceful application of nuclear
technology for all members of the NPT.

EXXON MOBIL'S CLAIM AGAINST THE DJIBOUTIAN JUDICIARY
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This situation is ongoing; a full reporting cable will
be submitted after the Djiboutian government takes action.
In brief, the three major oil companies in Djibouti )
ExxonMobil, Shell and Total ) have several lawsuits pending
in the courts. Fines have been tallied against the companies
based on blatantly altered documents overturning previous
appeals. The exemplars given to the Charge, in a meeting with
ExxonMobil representative Alain Adam on December 10, 2003,
showed portions of previous court documents whited-out and
altered to reverse the decisions.
After visiting the Ministers of Justice and of the
Presidency, the Government of Djibouti (GoD) has not taken
any action other than to say there would be an investigation
done internally at the Ministry of Justice. The attitude of
the GoD is that this is a very serious issue and they would
remedy it. However, in a meeting December 22, 2003 the
Minister of the Presidency in charge of foreign investment
seemed disinterested and the impression was that this problem
would not be immediately fixed.
Embassy Djibouti has been reluctant to submit the
National Trade Estimate reporting cable as a result of this
flagrant misuse of justice. This suit would cause a severely
negative change to the NTE if included. Embassy Djibouti
relayed this fact to the Minister of the Presidency Osman,
indicating that if no immediate action were taken to remedy
this case there would be significant potential damage to the
impression of the transparency of the government and the
judiciary. Minister Osman replied that if we reported so
negatively in this document we would be punishing the entire
country for the actions of individuals.

JOINT CHIEFS/ROBIN WILLIAMS, VISIT TO CAMP LEMONIER ON RTD
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Embassy Djibouti provided footage, photos and a press
release to Radio-TV Djibouti of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff/Robin Williams USO Christmas visit to Camp Lemonier.
RTD aired a full three minutes of footage with staging that
included the American Flag and a presentation to Williams by
General Robeson. Response has been positive from the
Djiboutian public.

SMITH