MEETING WITH FOREIGN MINISTER: DARFUR,

C O N F I D E N T I A L NOUAKCHOTT 001411 SIPDIS SIPDIS ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2016 TAGS: PREL IS KPAL MR SU SY UNSC SUBJECT: MEETING WITH FOREIGN MINISTER: DARFUR, ISRAEL-PALESTINE, SYRIA REF: A. A) NOUAKCHOTT 1389 ¶B. B) AFP20061208950015 ¶C. C) STATE 197800 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Charles H. Twining for Reason 1.4 (b,d ) ¶1. (C) Darfur. In a December 12 meeting with Foreign Minister Ahmed Ould Sid'Ahmed to discuss several foreign policy matters, Charge raised the issue of last week's recent meeting in Khartoum of ACP countries, at which President Vall spoke on behalf of all West African members. Sid'Ahmed said his Secretary General conveyed at planeside our request for a statement or other pressure on the Sudanese to implement the UN/AU agreement (ref A) but that an appropriate opportunity never arose. The Khartoum meeting focussed exclusively on EU assistance issues, and the word Darfur was never uttered. We brought to the Minister's attention an AFP dispatch quoting the Sudanese Media Centre as stating that President Vall stressed his support for Sudan's stance rejecting Resolution 1708 (ref B). Sid'Ahmed said the Sudanese completely twisted the President's interview, that the President never discussed anything but the ACP meeting with the Sudanese, and Mauritania supports fully Resolution 1708 and all other UN resolutions. ¶2. (C) Israel-Palestine. The Minister said the President met in Khartoum with PLO Executive Committee and Fatah Central Committee member Ahmed Qorei Abou Al Alaa to urge that the Palestinians form a government that can deal with the Israelis. At the meeting of European-Mediterranean Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Helsinki at the end of November Sid'Ahmed said he also met with the Israeli representative to urge that the two sides sit down and talk. ¶3. (C) Syria. Without knowing how applicable the instruction transmitted ref C was to us in Mauritania, we nevertheless raised with the Minister our hope that Mauritania would not entertain any senior level Syrians at this time. He said none are scheduled to come here. Twining