ITALY AGREES WITH PUBLIC STATEMENT; BELIEVES

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000702 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV SO IT SUBJECT: ITALY AGREES WITH PUBLIC STATEMENT; BELIEVES ETHIOPIA WILL KEEP OUT OF SOMALIA IF SECURITY CONCERNS ARE ADDRESSED. REF: SECSTATE 34956 Classified By: Pol M/C Thomas Countryman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). (C) PolOff delivered public statement on Somalia to Stefano Dejak, MFA Somalia Desk. Dejak said he "appreciated enormously" receiving an advance copy of the statement and added that the Italian Government is pleased by the decision to make public our views on Somalia and agrees "150%" with the statement. (C) Dejak informed PolOff that Mario Raffaeli, Italy's Special Envoy for Somalia, met with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin on February 28 and stressed to him that Ethiopian and neighboring state troops must not become involved in Somalia. Dejak stated that the Ethiopians are aware of this concern and could be convinced to keep out of Somalia, but only if their security concerns are addressed. According to Dejak the Ethiopians believe that their concerns may be overlooked if fundamentalist and/or anti-Ethiopian factions in Somalia feel confident that Ethiopia will be kept at bay by the international community. Therefore, he believes the Ethiopians will insist on a guarantee that their security interests will be respected in exchange for keeping out of the process. (U) Khartoum and Baghdad minimize considered. SEMBLER NNNN 2005ROME00702 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL