SOMALIA - ITALIANS SHARE CONCERNS OVER IGAD TROOP

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000950 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2015 TAGS: PREL SO IT SUBJECT: SOMALIA - ITALIANS SHARE CONCERNS OVER IGAD TROOP DEPLOYMENT. REF: STATE 47850 Classified By: PolOff James Donegan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On March 18, MFA Somalia Desk Officer Stefano Dejak told PolOff that Italy shares U.S. concerns expressed reftel over possible IGAD troop deployment in Somalia. Italy has been speaking at length at high levels to the Ethiopian government, which is looking to IGAD protection of its own borders from fundamentalist incursions. ¶2. (C) Dejak said Ambassador Mario Rafaelli, Italian Special Envoy for Somalia and Michael Zorick, PolOff Nairobi will continue to consult regularly on this issue in Nairobi, and that Italy's Ambassador in Nairobi, Enrico Gerardo De Maio, had already expressed, during an IGAD meeting on March 17, Italian concern over deployment of troops from frontline states. Dejak's personal view was that measured informal communications would be more effective at this point than public statements, but he promised to discuss our points with his superiors at the MFA. SEMBLER NNNN 2005ROME00950 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL