MINISTER DIRIR DISCUSSES ETHIOPIAN INTERESTS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 001578

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/E, AND INR/B
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER
CJTF-HOA AND USCENTCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2017
TAGS: PREL PINR SO ET DJ
SUBJECT: MINISTER DIRIR DISCUSSES ETHIOPIAN INTERESTS IN
SOMALIA


Classified By: ERIC WONG, DEPUTY POL-ECON COUNSELOR. REASON: 1.4 (B) A
ND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY. In May 15 consultations with visiting
Special Envoy to Somalia-designate Ambassador John Yates and
deputy pol-econ counselor (note-taker),Ethiopia's Minister
for Culture and Tourism, Ambassador Mohamoud Dirir (the most
prominent ethnic Ethiopian-Somali in Ethiopia's federal
government),said that collapse of Somalia's traditional
social fabric had created a "siege mentality" among Somali
leaders that could only be addressed through a comprehensive
process of political consultations, not through a written
agreement. Although situated in Africa, it was important to
recognize that geopolitically Ethiopia was part of the Middle
East, Dirir said, as one-third of all ethnic Somalis in the
Horn of Africa lived in Ethiopia. Addressing Ethiopia's
political role in Somalia, Dirir said that both Prime
Minister Meles and Foreign Minister Seyoum had met with the
Hawiye/Habr-Gedir/Ayr sub-clan multiple times, at the risk of
having other clans incorrectly perceive that the GOE sought
to appease a single clan group. Commenting on the role of
other regional actors, Dirir called for an inclusive approach
to Somalia that emphasized the constructive role Djibouti and
Yemen could play. Reflecting the GOE's de facto recognition
of all three Somali administrations, even while it supports
the TFG militarily, Dirir said peace and development in
Puntland and Somaliland should not be overlooked. END
SUMMARY.

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COLLAPSE OF SOCIAL FABRIC CONTRIBUTES TO SOMALI INSTABILITY
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2. (C) Collapse of Somalia's traditional social fabric had
created a "siege mentality" among Somali leaders that could
only be addressed through a comprehensive process of
political consultations, Minister Dirir said. As a member of
the Dir/Issa sub-clan dominant in Djibouti, Somaliland, and
Ethiopia's Ogaden area (Somali Region),Minister Dirir
observed that as the Issa recognized a single "ougaz" or clan
leader, the Issa's strong social fabric had prevented
significant intra-clan conflict. In contrast, the current
Somalia crisis had arisen from the collapse of not only
infrastructure and government, but also traditional Somali
social structures. The collapse of the social fabric led, in
turn, to fear and mistrust. Former United Somali
Congress-Somali National Alliance (USC-SNA) leader Mohamed
Farah Aideed had pitted sub-clans against each other
(Hawiye/Habr-Gedir/Sa'ad against Hawiye/Abgal). Somali clans
had fought each other but also killed their own clan members,
demonstrating that the current conflict was not a tribal war
for pasture or resources but more complex.


3. (C) Despite having one language and one religion, Somalia
was a "nation in search of a state." When the OAU dissolved
colonial-era boundaries in the 1960s, Somalia objected, Dirir
said, seeking to restore the "lost territories" of greater
Somalia (Ogaden, French Somaliland or Djibouti, etc.).
Although situated in Africa, it was important to recognize
that geopolitically Ethiopia was part of the Middle East.
One-third of all ethnic Somalis in the Horn of Africa lived
in Ethiopia, Dirir said. The "power-mongering" Council of
Islamic Courts (CIC) was using religious struggle in the name
of Islam as a facade. Pakistan had established numerous
madrassas in Somalia.

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ETHIOPIAN POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT OF AYR SUB-CLAN
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4. (C) The Somali peace process had to be segmented, Dirir
said. First, it was necessary to create confidence among the
Hawiye themselves. Dirir criticized Transitional Federal
Government of Somalia (TFG) PM Ali Mohammed Ghedi as a former
veterinarian and scholar who was better with animals than
with people. Asked whether, as a technocrat, Ghedi appealed
to those outside his own clan, Dirir said that without
support from his own Hawiye/Abgal sub-clan, Ghedi could not
hope to be accepted as a leader among Somalis. Dirir said
Ghedi was a political "novice" in comparison to Yusuf, and

ADDIS ABAB 00001578 002 OF 003


attributed Yusuf's political longevity to his ability to
invoke and to appeal to his mother's Dir clan, as well as to
his own Darod.


5. (C) Citing the 2000-2002 IGAD-led process in Djibouti, and
subsequent talks that led to the formation of the TFG in
2004, Dirir stressed the need for comprehensive political
consultations to address Somali stability. For most Somalis,
a written agreement "has no value at all," he said. "Somalis
need to talk," having suffered a "shattered psyche" from
years of war. Somalis were keen to sign agreements, but
implementation was a challenge. Amb. Yates responded that
the U.S. sought concrete accomplishments, and noted that Amb.
Ranneberger was to meet with President Yusuf in Nairobi.
Dirir said TFG President Yusuf had erred in calling for exact
dates to convene a National Reconciliation Conference, which
was very "un-Somali." Dirir acknowledged the importance of
ensuring that Yusuf's talks with Hawiye leaders continued, so
as to ensure that the Hawiye interlocutors were not
undermined. Amb. Yates highlighted the need for the TFG to
reach out better to its constituency: e.g., the NRC had been
announced in English in Nairobi, not in Mogadishu.


6. (C) Addressing Ethiopia's political role in Somalia, Dirir
said that both Prime Minister Meles and Foreign Minister
Seyoum had met with the Hawiye/Habr-Gedir/Ayr sub-clan
multiple times, at the risk of having other clans incorrectly
perceive that the GOE sought to appease a single clan group.
However, according to Dirir, the Ayr were "not in a mindset
that accepts peace," having profited from looting, anarchy,
and war. Citing Ayr interactions with Sudanese
interlocutors, and former CIC Executive Committee Chairman
CIC Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's support for Hassan
al-Turabi's National Islamic Front ideology, Dirir asserted
that Ayr associated with "terrorist groups."

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DJIBOUTI AND YEMEN CAN PLAY CONSTRUCTIVE ROLES
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7. (C) Commenting on the role of other regional actors, Dirir
called for an inclusive approach to Somalia that emphasized
the constructive role Djibouti and Yemen could play. Amb.
Yates noted he had visited both countries earlier this year.
Yemen was unlike other Arab states who lacked understanding
of the region, Dirir said. However, Dirir added, when he had
traveled to Yemen in 2006 to explain the threat posed by the
Council of Islamic Courts, Yemeni security officials had
asked whether Ethiopia was conducting such approaches in
collaboration with the United States.


8. (C) Peace and development in Puntland and Somaliland
should not be overlooked, Dirir cautioned. Institutional
capacity-building by USAID and organizations such as the
National Democratic Institute (NDI) could foster
democratization. Amb. Yates acknowledged that USAID had
conducted programs in Somaliland. Dirir advocated that the
USG cover Somali issues from Addis Ababa, rather than
Nairobi, asserting that Kenyan business leaders were
corrupted by ties to Somali warlords. Amb. Yates responded
that the USG sought eventually to cover Somalia from Somalia,
once conditions allowed.


9. (U) Minister Dirir concluded by noting that tourism in
Ethiopia accounted for only 3 percent of GDP. Ethiopia
sought to have one million tourists visit annually following
the celebration of the Ethiopian calendar's new millennium in
September, but Ethiopia had "missed the boat" by failing to
develop tourism facilities or promote privatization.


10. (U) BIO-DATA: Born in Dire Dawa in 1959, Dirir stated
that he attended a Roman Catholic missionary school but then
left Ethiopia for Hargeisa, Somalia, in his youth, due to his
opposition to the Marxist Dergue regime which came into power
in 1977. Dirir said he subsequently left Somalia due to his
involvement in the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF),
which sought the independence of Ethiopia's Ogaden area (now
the Somali Region),and then lived in Iraq, Turkey, and
Syria. Dirir received a B.A. in English Literature from
Damascus University in 1990, where he fondly recalls being a

ADDIS ABAB 00001578 003 OF 003


student of a USG-funded Fulbright Scholar. Dirir claims to
speak eight languages: Arabic, English, French, Somali,
Amharic, Oromigna, Harari, and Tigrinya.


11. (SBU) Post bio-files (forwarded to INR/B) note that Dirir
returned to Ethiopia in 1991, became president of the Issa
and Gurgura Liberation Front in 1993, and then participated
in the founding of the pro-EPRDF (Ethiopia People's
Revolutionary Democratic Front) Ethiopian Somali Democratic
League in 1994. Dirir was elected to the Somali Region's
parliament in 1995, and then served as Ethiopia's Ambassador
to Zimbabwe from 1996 to 1998. Dirir has held three
ministerial appointments in the Ethiopian federal government:
Minister of Transport and Communications (1998-2001),
Minister of Mines and Energy (2001),and Minister of Culture
and Tourism (October 2005 to present).


12. (C) COMMENT. Although nominally Ethiopia's Minister for
Culture and Tourism, Mohamoud Dirir is believed to provide
significant input to GOE policy on Somalia, as the most
prominent ethnic Somali in Ethiopia's federal government, and
the only Somali cabinet minister. As an anti-Dergue activist
who returned to Ethiopia in 1991, he has long supported the
ruling EPRDF and is currently serving in his third
ministerial appointment under PM Meles. Dirir's observation
that peace and development in Puntland and Somaliland should
not be overlooked, highlights the GOE's strategy of
cultivating close bilateral relations with each of these
Somali entities separately, even while it backs the TFG
militarily. END COMMENT.


13. (U) Embassy Nairobi cleared this cable.
YAMAMOTO