EGYPT TO CONSIDER USG VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE

UNCLAS CAIRO 004518 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER EG UNGA SUBJECT: EGYPT TO CONSIDER USG VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, SHARES GOAL OF REACHING CONCLUSION ON TEXT REF: STATE 105937 Sensitive but unclassified. Please handle accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) In a discussion with Hisham Maher, a member of the Foreign Minister's cabinet, and a more detailed exchange with First Secretary Nameera Negm, acting Chief of the the MFA's Legal Affairs directorate, the Embassy underscored the USG's determination to conclude a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the coming U.N. General Assembly session. ¶2. (SBU) Negm said that Egypt shared the U.S. objective of reaching a conclusion to the CCIT in New York and promised to share the USG points with the MFA leadership and in New York. She offered little on GOE views regarding draft CCIT negotiating text, but promised to provide the Embassy with any further information should the GOE wish to convey specific points with Washington. She suggested that efforts to negotiate acceptable language defining terrorism would make progress a challenge. Nevertheless, Egypt was keen, she asserted, to make progress on the issue, as Egypt was a supporter of the other 13 conventions outlined in reftel. Visit Embassy Cairo's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/cairo You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. GRAY