ARAB LEAGUE FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET TO DISCUSS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 007047

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER KPAL PHUM EG IS IZ MEPN ICRC
SUBJECT: ARAB LEAGUE FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET TO DISCUSS
IRAQ, PALESTINE, TERRORISM

REF: STATE 163365 (NOTAL)

Classified by DCM Stuart Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

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Summary
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1. (C) Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo September 8 to
discuss Iraq, Palestine, terrorism, and other key topics
ahead of the UN General Assembly and a possible Arab
emergency summit. Responding to forceful Iraqi criticism,
ministers agreed to a Saudi proposal to create a task force
to energize Arab states to support the Iraqi government.
Ministers welcomed Gaza disengagement (texts of key
resolutions septel) but cautioned that much more remains to
be done. Iraqi FM Zebari told the Ambassador afterwards
that, he had worked hard to convince the ministers that the
Iraqi regime would overcome current difficulties, that it was
not as weak as Arabs believed ("or hoped"),and that the GOI
had no intentions of erasing its Arab identity. The
ministers reportedly adopted a resolution on the Magen David
Adom issue which instructs Arab permreps to attend
Swiss-hosted consultations September 12-13 but to reject
further movement for the time being. In the absence of the
Palestinian Foreign Minister, the group avoided a decision to
renew the League's financial support to the Palestinian
Authority. On terrorism, ministers called for an
international conference and establishment of an
anti-terrorism cooperation center but retained language
referencing "resistance movements." The presence of Lebanese
Prime Minister Seniora overshadowed debate on the issue of
Syria, while topics such as Sudan, Somalia, Mauritania, and
regional reform were only briefly addressed. End summary.

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Annual Meeting of Foreign Ministers in Cairo
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2. (C) On September 8, foreign ministers from most of the
Arab League's 22 member states met in Cairo for their annual
ministerial meeting to discuss a variety of topics. The
ministers met chiefly to prepare Heads of State for the UN
General Assembly High Level Event and an Arab League
"emergency summit." According to Sudan's Foreign Minister,
the emergency summit will take place in November after
Ramadan (approximately October 4-November 4),despite Egypt's
wish to hold the already-delayed gathering in Egypt in early
October.

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Iraq: FM Zebari Presses Arabs to do More
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3. (C) During a five-hour, ministers-only meeting, FM Zebari
called his counterparts to task for their collective failure
to adequately support Iraq's political transformation.
Zebari complained bitterly that the Arabs had not yet
established adequate diplomatic representation, sent
visitors, provided aid, protected borders, nor even offered
condolences after the recent stampede that killed hundreds of
Shia marchers in Baghdad. Arab interference in internal
Iraqi negotiations to shape a new constitution was also high
on the list of Zebari's reportedly blistering denunciation.
Zebari reportedly heaped particular scorn on Arab League
Secretary General Amre Moussa for his divisive public

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positions on the constitution and his assistance to Iraq's
Sunni rejectionists. During a private meeting with the
Ambassador September 9, Zebari said that he had worked hard
to convince ministers that Iraq's current regime would
overcome its present difficulties, that it was not as weak as
Arab states "hoped," and that the current regime did not
intend to erase its Arab identity. Zebari warned his
counterparts that their contributions (or lack thereof) to
the GOI would be remembered far into the future. Singling
out Egyptian FM Aboul Gheit as "helpful, yet constrained,"
Zebari complained of Egypt's "invisible (negative) influence"
on regional public and private attitudes toward Iraq. He
indicated interest in finding ways to repair Baghdad's
damaged relations with Cairo.


4. (C) Assessing the effectiveness of his efforts at the
League, Zebari believed he had swayed opinions and built
diplomatic support for the GOI. After hearing Zebari's
complaints, it was the Saudi FM who proposed creation of an
Arab task force to mobilize support for the GOI in key areas.
In the same vein, Zebari said the Jordanian Prime Minister
and other Jordanian ministers would visit Baghdad soon as a
sign of solidarity, and that the Saudis had promised to open
an Embassy ("security permitting") in Baghdad. Zebari told
the Ambassador that he had "quarreled" with his Syrian
counterpart ("as usual") on SARG control of its border. The
final League resolution on Iraq (text septel),according to
Zebari, largely echoed previous such resolutions with the
exception of the new task force.

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Aid to Palestinians a Source of Dispute
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5. (C) Ministers welcomed Israel's disengagement from Gaza
and part of the northern West Bank while focusing attention
on remaining steps to permit a viable Gaza and a Palestinian
state. Repeating their support for the Arab peace initiative
(i.e., "the Beirut Declaration"),ministers called on the USG
to lead the way in realizing President Bush's vision of a
Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel.
Nevertheless, Secretary General Moussa and others questioned
Israeli intentions and called for a complete cessation of
settlement construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem. On
the issue of assistance to the Palestinian Authority, senior
Arab League and other local contacts confirmed reports that
Gulf members (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar) had sparred
over the issue of financial support to the Palestinians,
resulting in failure to adopt a perennial resolution on
direct budgetary assistance to the PA. According to
Jordanian Embassy colleagues, the absence of Palestinian FM
al-Kidwah due to the assasination of his uncle Moussa Arafat
the day before, led ministers to conclude that it would be
best for heads of state to decide the matter.

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Magen David Adom Issue: "Time Not Right"
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6. (C) According to a senior Arab League official, ministers
adopted a resolution September 8 dealing with the issue of
the Magen David Adom organization and the Third Protocol. In
the resolution, ministers reportedly agreed to attend the
Swiss-hosted consultations to be held in Geneva September
12-13 but to resist further progress for the time being.
Repeating arguments that we have heard consistently from
Egyptian and Arab League sources, permreps have reportedly
been instructed to adopt the joint Arab League and
Organization of Islamic Conferences position that states that
"the time is not right" to pursue a diplomatic conference on
the Third Protocol issue.

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Arab Call For Anti-Terror Conference, Cooperation Center
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7. (C) Addressing terrorism as a separate agenda item during
a foreign ministerial for the first time in League history,
ministers agreed to a 9-part resolution (text septel) in
which they called for the convening of an international
anti-terrorism conference and the establishment of an
international anti-terrorism cooperation center. The
resolution contains an explicit denunciation of "all forms of
terrorism regardless of motives and excuses." In the draft
obtained by the Embassy, the resolution calls, however, for
drafting a "comprehensive UN agreement on terrorism that
included a clear definition of terrorism...that takes into
account the difference between terrorism and the people's
right to resist occupation and aggression." This language
clearly falls far short of UN SYG Annan's proposed simple
definition of terrorism which was recognized as forming a
"basis for consensus" by Amre Moussa. Note: Jordanian
Charge urged poloff to consider the resolution in a positive
light, but not to put too much weight on its significance.
Arab states will pursue their own interests and views on this
subject in New York, he said, regardless of the ministerial
resolution. Differences clearly exist on this topic that can
only be worked out by delegations in NY, he added. End note.

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Syria, Lebanon: PM Seniora Addresses Group
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8. (C) According to Embassy contacts, the Egyptians worked
to keep the Syria-Lebanon dispute off of the agenda, in order
not to give the Syrians a platform to complain or seek
sympathy. The most notable portion of the ministerial on
these topics was a speech by visiting Lebanese Prime Minister
Seniora who sought support for the new Lebanon. Contacts
present for the speech noted that Syrian Foreign Minister
barely applauded at the conclusion despite a nearly unanimous
conclusion that Seniora's speech had been quite good. Syrian
FM al Shara'a departed immediately after the speech,
reportedly, and did not return.

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Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan and Other Topics
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9. (SBU) The subjects of Sudan, Somalia, and Mauritania were
discussed only briefly by ministers during this meeting.
Ministers decided to continue support for peace-building and
reconciliation in Sudan and Somalia, but did not offer any
new assistance, we understand. The Mauritanian Foreign
Minister was welcomed by the other ministers and participated
in the full day of meetings. During an address to the group,
he reportedly explained the current status of the new regime,
stating that elections would be held in two years. Arab
reform also did not feature prominently in these discussions.


10. (U) Tripoli minimize considered.


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