SOMALIA: UPDATE ON DISPOSITION OF DECEASED

S E C R E T NAIROBI 002166 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2026 TAGS: PHSA ICRC ASEC MARR PREL KE SO SUBJECT: SOMALIA: UPDATE ON DISPOSITION OF DECEASED SOMALI'S REMAINS REF: A. STATE 76634 ¶B. NAIROBI 2003 Classified By: Political Counselor Michael J. Fitzpatrick for reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Pursuant to ref A, Post requested the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) convey the message to the deceased Somali's next of kin their two options: that they can either accept the remains without any form of compensation from the USG or that the body will be properly disposed of in a location outside of Somalia. The ICRC has since reported that the next of kin still insist on direct communication with the U.S. Embassy, and obligingly, the ICRC collected the family member's contact details and forwarded these to Post. ICRC's representative also informed poloff that the organization no longer wished to serve as an intermediary between the USG and the next of kin on the subject of compensation. ¶2. (S/NF) Having received such an unsatisfactory response from the next of kin, Post is pursuing an alternative channel to convey the USG's message to the deceased's family members. PolCouns May 16 contacted Mohamed Ali Nur (Americo),Charge D'Affaires for the Embassy of the Somali Republic in Kenya. PolCouns highlighted that this issue as an area in which the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the USG might expand their anti-piracy coordination efforts. PolCouns explained that serving as an intermediary to convey the options to the next of kin is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the TFG's commitment anti-piracy coordination. (NOTE: On May 5 and 12, PolCouns, poloffs, and other U.S. reps met with Americo and others to discuss furthering cooperation on combating piracy. In an April letter to the Ambassador, the Prime Minister had designated "Mohamed Ali Nur, Coordinator of Somlia Affairs in Kenya; Ahmed Abdulle Sahal, Army Officer; and, Abdi Hassan Mohamed, Intelligence Officer" as the three TFG officials assigned to a joint Embassy-TFG working group on piracy. The first working group meeting laid out the framework for bilateral information sharing among the concerned diplomatic, military and intelligence personnel. Sahal was absent from the second meeting as he had gone to Somalia to obtain answers for a number of questions raised by the U.S. side at the first meeting. TFG officials stressed the decentralized nature of the piracy problem now, with a number of "copy-cats" getting into the action as a way to make money. END NOTE.) ¶3. (C) Americo was quite receptive to such a suggestion and subsequently conveyed our message (along with the next of kin's contact information) to Somali PM Gedi. Gedi is supportive of this effort and agreed to send an individual to Mogadishu to directly convey the USG's message to the next of kin and seek a definitive response. Post anticipates receiving a response by May 18. The continuing tense situation in Mogadishu and the potential for renewed violence, however, may slightly delay this effort. Post will report the outcome of the meeting as soon as it made known to us. ¶4. (C) Meanwhile, Post is awaiting ARCENT's provision of a timeline for when disposal of the remains will be imminently necessary. Given the continuing difficulties surrounding the disposition of these particular remains, Post reiterates for the Washington inter-agency the need to develop SOP guidelines for the handling of such cases in the future. BELLAMY