SOMALIA: ITALY WANTS ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT TFI-CIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 003223 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR AF/E SOMALIA DESK E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL SO IT SUBJECT: SOMALIA: ITALY WANTS ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT TFI-CIC DIALOGUE Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor David D. Pearce for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Poloff met with Italian MFA Somalia Coordinator Giancarlo Izzo November 30 to discuss the situation in Somalia and the possible deployment of a regional force. According to Izzo, Italy believed that the dialogue between the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFI) and the Council of Islamic Courts (CIC) was not yet exhausted. The CIC ultimately needed the dialogue because it wanted recognition as a Somali movement, he said. The TFIs were weaker than before and, as a result, seemed to be less open to dialogue than the CIC. Izzo stressed that the international community needed to pressure the leaders of the TFIs to work together. ¶2. (C) On a potential UN Security Council Resolution that would authorize a regional force, Izzo said that Italy supported an IGASOM force along the lines of the September 5 Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) agreement. Specifically, Izzo noted that neighboring countries should not be troop contributors, and that the duration, area, and mission of an IGASOM force should be limited. Italy also believed, according to Izzo, that a UNSCR should specify that the TFIs and CIC should meet again for talks in Khartoum, before IGASOM deployment would be authorized. ¶3. (C) Izzo also noted that the verification and monitoring group considered in the October Contact Group meeting could, along with the UN embargo monitoring group, create conditions on the ground that would increase the possibility for dialogue. With an Ethiopian intervention as the contingency plan, Izzo argued that there was time to try again in Khartoum before sending an IGASOM force into Somalia. He noted that, while Italy believed IGASOM was probably the best way to deal with the problems in Somalia, it also carried great risk in that it could further destabilize the situation. ¶4. (C) According to Izzo, the MFA's Director General for Sub-Saharan Africa, Armando Sanguini, was planning to travel to Washington December 11-13, and would meet with AF Assistant Secretary Jendayi Frazer. Izzo noted that Somalia would be a key agenda item for Sanguini. SPOGLI