ETHIOPIA: GOE OPPOSES ACCOMMODATION WITH SOMALIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 001607 SIPDIS SIPDIS AF FOR A/S FRAZER AND ADAS REDDICK E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2016 TAGS: PREL PTER ASEC PGOV ET SO ER SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: GOE OPPOSES ACCOMMODATION WITH SOMALIA ISLAMIC COURTS REF: ADDIS ABABA 1600 Classified By: CHARGE Vicki Huddleston for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Deputy Foreign Minister Tekeda Alemu told Charge June 12 the GOE was concerned that USG "feelers" to the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Mogadishu could affect that attitudes of other players, including the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). Tekeda bemoaned the fact that many actors seemed to be adjusting to what they considered the "fait accompli" of ICU control of southern Somalia, while the GOE remained convinced that "these people are going to be divided" by clan loyalties and other conflicts. He read a series of damning media quotes from ICU leader Sherif Sheik Mohammed and urged that senior USG officials to look closely at this issue. The Deputy FM said the GOE didn't know if TFG President Abdullai Yusuf remained allied with Ethiopia any longer. He also cautioned the USG against further cooperation with warlord Mohammed Qanyare. Tekeda expressed strong interest in and concern about the membership of the international Contact Group that planned to meet June 15 in New York. End Summary. ¶2. (C) In a June 12 meeting focused primarily on the Ethiopia-Eritrea border issue (see reftel),Deputy Foreign Minister Tekeda and Charge also discussed the situation in Somalia. Tekeda was accompanied by North America Director Ayalew Mamo, while Pol/Econ Counselor joined Charge. -------------- Why Do People Think We've Been Consulting? -------------- ¶3. (C) Tekeda complained to Charge that Somalia experts on Al-Jazeera and elsewhere in the media were claiming that the GOE had led the USG astray with deceptive intelligence. "If they did their homework, they would know that you haven't been consulting with us," the Deputy FM noted with some irony. ¶4. (C) Charge discussed the series of meetings that were scheduled to engage the USG and international community on the Somalia issue, and the possible travel of USG officials to the region in the coming days. Tekeda asked about which countries would participate in the Contact Group that planned to meet in New York June 15. Egypt, he noted, was a particular concern since the GOE did not know which part of the Egyptian bureaucracy would be calling the shots on Somalia. Charge promised to get Tekeda a list of Contact Group participants, and noted that Ethiopia would likely not be included because it was too involved in the situation. -------------- TEKEDA: THESE PEOPLE WILL BE DIVIDED -------------- ¶5. (C) Tekeda bemoaned the fact that "everyone is trying to make adjustments to what they think is a fait accompli. Even Abdullai Yusuf!" The Deputy FM confessed that the GOE was no longer sure whether the TFG president remained allied with Ethiopia. At the same time, Tekeda assured the Charge that "these people (the ICU) are going to be divided." Conflicting clan loyalties and other disagreements would pull the ICU leadership apart, he said. Tekeda emphasized that what the U.S. did -- or promised to do -- in its "feelers" to Mogadishu would have an impact on how other actors, including both the TFG and other regional players, positioned themselves in the current situation. He added that the USG would make no headway by working with warlord Mohammed Qanyare, with whom the GOE had collaborated very unsuccessfully in the past. ¶6. (C) Tekeda also read the Charge a number of quotes that a senior ICU official, Sherif Sheik Mohammed, recent gave in a BBC interview. In the interview, Sheik Mohammed reportedly expressed his belief in theories blaming either "the Jews" or "the Americans themselves" for the 9/11 attacks, refused to condemn suicide bombers who attack the U.S and declared that it was not his job to arrest terrorist suspects on behalf of the United States. Tekeda concluded that "your (USG) people are not on top of this issue." HUDDLESTON