PRESIDENT ISAIAS SPEAKS AT SIGNING OF ESPA

UNCLAS ASMARA 000858 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHERS PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958 DECL: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO PINR SU ER SUBJECT: PRESIDENT ISAIAS SPEAKS AT SIGNING OF ESPA 1.(U) On the occasion of the signing of the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement (ESPA) on October 14, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki again spoke out against the United States and the international community. In his speech he blamed the U.S. for complicating and perpetuating conflicts and using them for financial gain. He went on to advise the audience to seek domestic solutions to internal problems and not to pursue a path that will lead to external intervention. His comments about the manipulations of the U.S. and the international community received enthusiastic cheers from the fundamentalist Islamists and Sudanese National Congress Party audience members. ¶2. (SBU) Comment: President Isaias's comments are nothing new. He continues to present the United States negatively and explain U.S. action's as a deliberate undermining of Eritrea and other regional actors for the U.S.'s own gains. His warning to the audience regarding domestic solutions to internal problems and avoiding external interventions might be interpreted as a statement of support both for the Government of Sudan, and the GOS's refusal to allow international peacekeepers in Darfur. End Comment. ¶3. (U) A GSE English translation of the speech delivered in Arabic follows below. Begin text: Your Excellency President Omer Al Beshir Your Excellency President Ismael Orner Guelle Distinguished Leaders and Delegates of the Eastern Front Representatives of Friendly States and Governments Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to extend, on this momentous occasion, my warmest congratulations to the people of the Sudan, to President Beshir, to the leaders of the Eastern Front as well as to the people of Eritrea and the peoples of our region as a whole. Allow me further to thank all those who contributed, through patient and capable efforts, to the concretization of the Agreement between the Government of National Unity and the Eastern Front that is being signed on this auspicious day. Excellencies, I believe it is imperative and timely to gauge this important Agreement - which constitutes one of the building blocs[sic] of comprehensive peace in the Sudan - in the context of the prevailing regional and international climate. The larger perspective is vital in order to appreciate the challenges and to marshal necessary efforts to ensure the effective implementation and sustainability of the Agreement. As Your Excellencies will agree with me, the Naivasha Agreement did not only constitute one of the primary pillars of Comprehensive Peace in the Sudan but also a historic achievement that laid the foundations of the whole edifice. In this perspective, I wish to underline that its full consummation at the end of the transitional period to deliver the desired result and its organic reinforcement through supplementation of the other building blocs[sic] will demand robust commitment and assiduous maintenance. Excellencies, It is important to realize that we are passing through dangerous times which can only arouse our concomitant awareness. Few short-sighted powers are plunging billions of people in the world into the abyss of perennial crisis and conflict in order to control and dominate the resources of our planet. These are indeed times of unprecedented injustice to secure international domination at the expense of fundamental individual and people's rights. We cannot be oblivious to the subtle manipulations' underway to impart a different connotation to the concept of the "International Community" by reducing the forum to represent the interests of the only superpower and its ilk to the exclusion of all others. We observe, daily, dogged attempts to transform international and regional organizations into mere extensions or appendages of the Offices of major powers and micro-manage them through their intelligence agencies. Sadly, what is in vogue today is not "conflict resolution" but "the complication and perpetuation of conflicts". Fabrication of any pretext to satisfy one's selfish interests is being employed without scruples under the Machiavellian philosophy of the "end justifies the means". It is indeed distressing to see peace processes degenerate into forums of public acrimony or for financial gain instead of promoting genuine and enduring solutions. Excellencies, Allow me to highlight two cardinal issues, among other important matters, on this auspicious moment and in the context of the prevailing dangerous international climate. The first is the absolute need to refrain from policies and acts that spawn internal crisis and conflict, and, to seek and secure domestic solutions to internal problems that may have been inherited or that may have arisen from misguided policies. This will also involve the implementation of Agreements signed faithfully and seriously. The second is not to tread on an alley that leads to external intervention and to thwart overt or covert external intervention. Because, accommodation of or capitulation to external pressures will only exacerbate the situation, prolong the conflicts and entail sorrow and remorse. Excellencies, May I extend, again, my warmest congratulations and express my best wishes, on behalf of the people and Government of Eritrea, to the people and Government of the Sudan to transform this historic Agreement inscribed today on paper and on our hearts into a solid and unshakable building bloc [sic] of unity through proper care and maintenance. Thank you. End text. WROBLEWSKI