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.

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2005ROME00702 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL