Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DJIBOUTI383
2006-03-27 12:15:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Djibouti
Cable title:  

DJIBOUTI RESPONSE ON SOMALI PIRACY SUSPECTS

Tags:  PREL MARR PHSA SO DJ 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L DJIBOUTI 000383 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF
STATE ALSO FOR AF/E DIRECTOR EUNICE REDDICK AND AF DEPUTY
DIRECTOR DEBORAH MALAC
DOD FOR AF DAS THERESA WHELAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2016
TAGS: PREL MARR PHSA SO DJ
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI RESPONSE ON SOMALI PIRACY SUSPECTS

REF: A. DJIBOUTI 361


B. STATE 046195

Classified By: AMBASSADOR MARGUERITA D. RAGSDALE.
REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L DJIBOUTI 000383

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF
STATE ALSO FOR AF/E DIRECTOR EUNICE REDDICK AND AF DEPUTY
DIRECTOR DEBORAH MALAC
DOD FOR AF DAS THERESA WHELAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2016
TAGS: PREL MARR PHSA SO DJ
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI RESPONSE ON SOMALI PIRACY SUSPECTS

REF: A. DJIBOUTI 361


B. STATE 046195

Classified By: AMBASSADOR MARGUERITA D. RAGSDALE.
REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) Ambassador met 3/26 with Acting Foreign Minister
Badri Ali Bagoreh and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
Bilateral Affairs Director Mohamed Ali Hassan as a follow
up to reftel (B) request to the Government of Djibouti on
the suspected Somali pirates. Bagoreh and Hassan advised
Ambassador that Djibouti had agreed that the nine Somalis
could transit Djibouti enroute to the U.S. and urged her to
contact Col. Hassan Said Khaireh, Director of National
Security Services, to convey modalities of the transfer.


2. (C) Ambassador, accompanied by Acting ORA Chief, met
3/27 with Khaireh and Khaireh's Deputy, Abdillahi Mohamed
Abdillahi. Khaireh informed Ambassador that he had
agreed, based on a request at Ambassador's behest the week
prior, to accept two wounded Somalis for immediate transfer
to a medical facility in the Gulf. He said he had seen the
points the Ambassador presented 3/23 to the Minister of
Foreign Affairs (reftel A) and understood that this was a
similar request.


3. (C) Ambassador explained that the U.S. is now asking if
Djibouti would be amenable to detaining on a temporary
basis, in a Djiboutian facility, any or all of the nine
Somalis who may ultimately not be charged in a U.S.
judicial case. She added that the U.S. would be willing to
cover the expenses of such detention as well as any
follow-up medical care those detained may require.


4. (C) Khaireh replied that Djibouti had no objection to
the arrival in Djibouti of the Somali detainees, as long as
the U.S. took full custody of them and responsibility for
their detention and care. He suggested they be held at the
U.S. military base in Djibouti with U.S. marshals or
military personnel. He explained that Djibouti did not
have the facilities, outside of Gabode Prison, to detain
such individuals. If they were held in Gabode, Khaireh
said, they would become an issue for Djibouti's Ministry of
Justice -- a problem, in that they had committed no crime
in Djibouti. Khaireh went on to say that detaining the
Somalis would be an enormous responsibility and carry a
great deal of risk, including the possibility the detainees
might harm themselves or be harmed by others. Some may
require medical care that Djibouti was not in a position to
provide. In either case, he said, Djibouti could be held
responsible for their fate. He also expressed concern that
the Ambassador could not state if a case would be brought
or provide a firm date for their departure.


5. (C) While Khaireh said Djibouti could not agree to take
custody of the nine Somalis, he repeated that Djibouti had
no problem with their detention at Camp Lemonier. Djibouti
would only require in such a scenario, he said, to know the
date of their arrival at the Camp, their identities, and
the date they leave Djiboutian territory.


6. (C) Comment: General Timothy Ghormley, Commander of
CJTF-HOA based at Camp Lemonier, has informed the
Ambassador that Camp Lemonier does not have the holding
capacity to detain the nine Somali piracy suspects. In
addition, detention of such suspects is incompatible with
CJTF-HOA's mission in the Horn in outreach and in civil
affairs. End comment.
RAGSDALE