ETHIOPIA: DEPUTY FM TALKS ON ERITREA INCURSION,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 002818

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NAIROBI FOR A/S FRAZER
AF FOR DAS YAMAMOTO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2016
TAGS: MOPS PREL PTER SO SU DJ ER ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: DEPUTY FM TALKS ON ERITREA INCURSION,
SOMALIA CONTACT GROUP


Classified By: CHARGE VICKI HUDDLESTON FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) Summary. Deputy Foreign Minister Tekeda Alemu told
Charge and United Kingdom Ambassador Bob Dewar October 18
that he had "absolutely no concern" about Eritrea's incursion
into the TSZ and Ethiopia would not be provoked into action.
He said that Ethiopia will continue to monitor the border,
but no immediate action or response from Ethiopia was
imminent. Tekeda said that Ethiopia's major threat comes
from the East (Somalia) and not from the North (Eritrea). He
added that in terms of Somalia, the US and UK must press the
Somalia Contact Group (SCG) to recommend an amendment of the
arms embargo and support of an IGASOM/Ugandan force. Tekeda
stressed that the international community should use the SCG
to convey its support of the Transitional Federal Government
(TFG) to the Council of Islamic Courts (CIC). Tekeda said
that Somaliland and Puntland were important to Ethipia's
national security and the overall success of the TFG. He
noted that Sudan and Djibouti were potentially playing
adversarial roles with resprect to Ethiopia's conflict with
the CIC. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Charge and the UK Ambassador Bob Dewar met October 1
at the request of Deputy Foreign Minister Tekeda Alemu and
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director of Europe and North
America Almaz Amha. Charge's special assistant was notetaker.

ERITREAN INCURSION INTO THE TSZ
--------------


3. (C) Deputy Foreign Minister Tekeda said that Eritrea's
October 16 incursion into the TSZ was no cause for concern
and added that the TSZ was "fiction" anyway since the
Eritrean military, disguised as local militia, has been in
the security zone for a while. Tekeda said that Ethiopia
would not be provoked by this action, but would continue to
vigilant and monitor the situation closely. Tekeda posited
that Eritrea might have two motivations for their military
movement. First, he said, Eritrea might be sending a message
of support to the CIC and open up the possibility of a two
front conflict for Ethiopia. Tekeda added that Eritrea's
other reason for moving into the TSZ was to "remind" the
international community of the unresolved border dispute with
Ethiopia.


4. (C) Charge commended Ethiopia's restraint and asked Tekeda
what he thought of the future of United Nations Mission to
Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). Tekeda said that restraint has
always been Ethiopia's policy and that it has no interest in
resuming a military conflict with Eritrea. As for UNMEE,
Tekeda supports its role and would not like to see any change
to its mandate or capability to monitor the border. Tekeda
questioned the sustainability of the Algiers Agreement, on
the other hand, as Eritrea was now in violation of the
agreement's provisions. He said that Ethiopia would look
into the legal implications of Eritrea's movement into the
TSZ and suggested that the US and UK do the same. Both the

SIPDIS
Charge and UK Ambassador argued that it was important to
conserve the agreement as it calls upon the international
community to see that the agreement is observed.

SOMALIA
--------------


5. (C) Tekeda told the Charge that Ethiopia views that
outcome of the contact group's meeting as critical to peace
in the region. He called the SCG to make a strong statement
reflective of the international commitment to the TFG and
recommend a partial lifting of the arms embargo. Tekeda said
that such a statement would provide a psychological and
political boost to the TFG in addition to increasing its
security profile. Tekeda also said that bolstering the TFG
would permit talks and the broadening of the TFG to
accommodate moderate elements in the CIC. Charge asked if a
statement from the contact group would allow Ethiopia to
continue its support -- without direct confrontation with the
CIC -- of TFG. Tekeda said that with the partial lifting of
the embargo and an IGASOM/Ugandan battalion to do training
would change the equation to the region. Tekeda said he
would like to move away from the perception that it's just
Ethiopia opposing the CIC and protecting TFG, Puntland and
Somaliland. According to Tekeda representatives from the CIC
have told him that Ethiopia alone prevented them from taking
all of Somalia. He stressed that it should be countries in
the region and the international community that stop the CIC

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from swallowing up Somalia; not Ethiopia alone.


6. (C) Tekeda noted that his government has continued to
dialog with the CIC. For example, the Ethiopia Foreign
Minister sent a representative to talk with two businessmen
from the CIC. The GOE also sent a political officer to the
Nairobi talks where both sides agreed the talks needed to
happen at a higher level. Tekeda said the GOE extended an
open invitation to Sheikh Sherif for talks in Addis, but has
yet to receive a reply. He reiterated that the Ethiopian
government has an "open door policy" towards the CIC. Tekeda
noted, however, that the CIC does not take the dialog
seriously and that after every major meeting, the CIC has
made a military move.


7. (C) Charge asked about the commitment of other countries
in the region to addressing the Somalia situation. Tekeda
said that the African Union, Kenyans, and Ugandans were
committed to dealing with the situation. He noted that
during the Presidential meeting on Ivory Coast in Addis
Ababa, Ugandan President Museveni told the Djiboutian Foreign
Minister that any Islamic Jihad would be met with an "African
Jihad." Tekeda also said that TFG President Yusef is close
to Libyan President Qadaffi and then Libya may be ready to
"play ball" in defense of the TFG.

SOMALILAND
--------------


8. UK Ambassador Bob Dewar that the Somaliland government was
reticent to dialog with the TFG and expressed concern that it
could be overturned by subversion. Tekeda said that
Somaliland's stability is closely tied to Ethiopia's
security. He explained that while Ethiopia would not take a
calculated step to support Somaliland independence, it would
do all that was necessary to ensure Somaliland's stability.
Tekeda said that the US could be helpful by getting the
Somaliland opposition and government dialogue started and
exploring the idea of getting Somaliland, Puntland and the
TFG together for talks between themselves and with the other
countries in the region.


9. Tekeda said that Ethiopia, the US and UK need to work
together in Somaliland and asked Ambassador Dewar and the
Charge if they were interested in coordinating visits to
Hargesa. Charge said that the US might be interested in
joining the UK trip.

SUDAN
--------------


10. (C) Tekeda said Sudan is playing a complex role in
Somalia. He added that high level Sudanese government
officials, including Ali Nafer, have made trips to Mogadishu.
He openly questioned if there was a relationship between the
Sudanese agreement brokered by Eritrea on the Eastern front
celebrated this weekend and Eritrea,s move into the TFG.

DJIBOUTI
--------------


11. (C) Tekeda said that if Ethiopia were to follow
Djibouti's policy regarding Somalia, the TFG would "already
be gone." He added that Djibouti was "talking a good game"
and does not have the courage to "show their cards." He said
he was concerned about on-going talks between Djibouti and
Eritrea. Tekeda said that Prime Minister Meles met with the
Djiboutian FM and told him that he know about flights to
Eritrea from Djibouti and financing for the CIC from
Djibouti. Tekeda explained that Ethiopia would protect
Djibouti, even if it needed to protect "Djibouti from itself"
because the country is critical to Ethiopia's national
security. Tekeda said that he hoped the Islamist factor
would not be the most decisive in the Djiboutian
decision-making process.

HUDDLESTON