CANADA: RESPONSE TO SOMALIA - IGAD DEPLOYMENT PLAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 000825 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2015 TAGS: PREL SO CA FAC SUBJECT: CANADA: RESPONSE TO SOMALIA - IGAD DEPLOYMENT PLAN DEMARCHE REF: STATE 047850 Classified By: POL M/C Brian Flora, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered reftel demarche concerning the possible deployment of troops by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Somalia to Jamieson Weetman, Somalia desk officer at Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC),on March 17. Weetman thanked us for the points, and indicated that FAC generally shared our concerns about the IGAD deployment. In particular, he cited FAC's concerns about the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia as part of the IGAD deployment. ¶2. (C) Continuing, Weetman referenced the March 3 public statement on Somalia made by A/S Richard Boucher, which Weetman said was consistent with FAC's position on the need for restoration of governance in Somalia. However, he said that Somalia was not a high priority for Canada at this time, and FAC would not be making any public statements on the IGAD deployment issue. ¶3. (C) Weetman indicated that he would pass the demarche to FAC's Somalia watcher at their embassy in Nairobi, and would advise us if FAC had any more information to report. Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa DICKSON