Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ADDISABABA181
2007-01-23 14:37:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Addis Ababa
Cable title:  

SOMALIA: TFG AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE TO GERMANY

Tags:  PREL PGOV MOPS SO ET 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5760
PP RUEHDE RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHDS #0181/01 0231437
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 231437Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4168
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNSOM/SOMALIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0343
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 000181 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS SO ET
SUBJECT: SOMALIA: TFG AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE TO GERMANY
REPORTS TRANSFER OF FOREIGN FIGHTERS


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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 000181

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS SO ET
SUBJECT: SOMALIA: TFG AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE TO GERMANY
REPORTS TRANSFER OF FOREIGN FIGHTERS


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


1. (C) SUMMARY. In a January 22 meeting with deputy pol-econ
counselor and German DCM, Somalia Transitional Federal
Government (TFG) Embassy counselor Abdisalam Warsame Hassan
reviewed recent developments in Somalia. TFG President Yusuf
had not been harmed by the January 19 mortar attack on the
presidential palace in Mogadishu, Hassan said, nor had there
been any casualties. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum was
visiting Mogadishu, accompanied by an Ethiopian Airlines
assessment team studying the feasibility of establishing
direct commercial flights to Addis Ababa. Hassan reported
that Kenya had transferred 34 foreign fighters of the Council
of Islamic Courts (CIC) to the TFG's custody, which included
ethnic Oromo insurgents from Ethiopia, Eritreans, and
possibly some European nationals. They would be tried in
Mogadishu, not repatriated. Noting that the CIC's top
security official had fled to either Germany or Saudi Arabia,
Hassan defended the recent impeachment of TFG Parliamentary
Speaker Sharif Hassan, citing Sharif's contacts with CIC
leadership. Hassan expressed concern about reports of
increasing insurgency within Ethiopia itself, and control by
the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) of key areas in
Ethiopia's Somali region. He noted that Uganda had recently
appointed a commander for two battalions that could deploy to
Somalia, and confirmed that Iran was interested in uranium
sources in Somalia. END SUMMARY.

--------------
TFG PRESIDENT UNHARMED BY MORTAR ATTACK
--------------


2. (C/REL FRG) Hassan confirmed that a single mortar round
had hit the presidential palace in Mogadishu on January 19,
fired from the adjacent grounds of the former German embassy.
Hassan reported no casualties, and said that TFG President
Abdullahi Yusuf had not been harmed. According to Hassan,
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin was visiting

Mogadishu on January 22. (NOTE: In a separate meeting on
January 23, Ethiopia's State Minister of Foreign Affairs
Tekeda Alemu confirmed that FM Seyoum had visited Mogadishu,
and noted that Seyoum had returned to Addis Ababa accompanied
by TFG President Yusuf, in order to meet with Prime Minister
Meles. END NOTE.)

--------------
KENYA HANDS OVER CAPTURED FOREIGN FIGHTERS
--------------


3. (C/REL FRG) Kenya had transferred 34 foreign fighters to
the TFG's custody on January 21, Hassan said. The fighters
included ethnic Oromo insurgents from Ethiopia; Eritreans;
and "some foreigners," possibly including German and Danish
passport-holders, he said. Hassan did not have any
information indicating that any transferred fighters were
U.S. or UK nationals. The combatants were now being held by
the TFG in a detention center in Mogadishu. The ICRC would
be allowed access to the detainees, he said, but it was
unlikely that any third-country nationals would be
repatriated, as the TFG would seek to prosecute them in
Somalia. "We will keep jurisdiction," he said. Questioned
about CIC foreign fighters, Hassan noted the difficulty of
identifying the nationality of those who had been killed, as
many had been buried immediately (e.g., at Dinsor).


4. (C/REL FRG) Mohammed Indho-Adde, Security Secretary for
the Council of Islamic Courts (CIC),was reportedly in
Germany for medical treatment, Hassan said, although the TFG
had also received information that he may have fled to Saudi
Arabia with USD 3 million. German DCM could not confirm
whether Indho-Adde had traveled to Germany, speculating that
he may have obtained a Schengen visa, using a Djiboutian
passport or documents for a false identity.

-------------- --------------
IMPEACHED TFG SPEAKER CONSULTED WITH CIC LEADERSHIP
-------------- --------------


5. (C/REL FRG) Noting recent USG statements critical of the

ADDIS ABAB 00000181 002 OF 003


TFG's recent impeachment of Parliamentary Speaker Sharif
Hassan Sheikh Adan, Hassan defended the TFG's action,
asserting that the Speaker had abandoned his official duties
for several months. Instead of following instructions to
head the TFG delegation to the second round of TFG-CIC talks
in Khartoum on October 31, the Speaker had traveled to Saudi
Arabia and Dubai to meet with CIC Executive Committee
Chairman Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, before going to Tehran to meet
CIC Shura Chairman Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, Hassan said.
TFG Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Constitutional and
Federal Affairs Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail had thus led the
delegation to Khartoum. Hassan agreed with German DCM's
assessment that the Speaker was "politically dead" and had
few followers.

--------------
CONCERN ABOUT RISING INSURGENCY IN ETHIOPIA
--------------


6. (C/REL FRG) While the Ethiopian military had been
relatively successful in Somalia, Hassan expressed concern
about increased insurgent activity within Ethiopia itself.
Hassan reported increased activity by the Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF) in several of the nine zones of
Ethiopia's Somali region, especially near Gode and in
Dhagah-bour; the Garbo District; the Fiiq zone; and the
Wardher Zone, whose Danot District he said the ONLF now
controlled.


7. (C/REL FRG) According to Hassan, Ugandan President
Museveni had appointed a force commander on January 21 to
lead two Ugandan battalions for IGASOM, who reportedly could
deploy to Somalia within two weeks. TFG Ambassador to
Ethiopia and PermRep to the African Union Abdikarin Farah was
currently in Brussels, Hassan said, lobbying for EU support
for IGASOM and the TFG.

-------------- --------------
TFG SEEKS DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, AIR LINKS WITH ETHIOPIA
-------------- --------------


8. (C/REL FRG) Questioned about how Somalia would engage
politically with Somaliland, Hassan said he had posed the
same question recently to TFG President Yusuf. Hassan
reaffirmed TFG sovereignty over Somaliland, and questioned
how Somaliland would be able to sustain itself economically,
given lack of resources. In contrast, he noted that the
President of Puntland, who recognized TFG authority, would
meet development cooperation officials in Germany, and was
facilitating investment by Australian and Chinese interests
in Puntland mining ventures.


9. (SBU) Hassan said an assessment team from state-run
Ethiopian Airlines was in Mogadishu to examine the
feasibility of establishing direct commercial flights between
Addis Ababa and Mogadishu. Such flights would compete
against those now going through Hargeisa, in Somaliland, he
noted.

--------------
IRANIAN INTEREST IN SOMALI MINERAL RESOURCES
--------------


10. (C/REL FRG) Hassan confirmed that an Iranian delegation,
accompanied by an Italian geologist, had recently visited
Somalia to examine possible uranium sources. He observed
that the CIC had received weapons from Iran, and that many
such armaments had been buried by CIC forces at Baledogle.

--------------
EXPECTATIONS FOR UPCOMING AU SUMMIT
--------------


11. (U) Noting that the previous Afican Union Summit in July
2006 had resulted in a communique affirming the legitimacy of
the TFG, as well as a decision to forgive Somalia's arrears
for unpaid contributions, Hassan said TFG officials hoped the
upcoming AU Summit in Addis Ababa would result in greater
international support for Somalia. TFG President Yusuf

ADDIS ABAB 00000181 003 OF 003


planned to attend the summit, he said, along with Foreign
Minister Ismail Hure Buba, Deputy PM and Minister of
Constitutional and Federal Affairs Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail,
and Minister of Planning Hussein Elabe Fahiye.

12. (U) BIO-NOTE: Abdisalam Warsame Hassan, currently
assigned to the TFG's embassy in Addis Ababa, is the TFG
ambassador-designate to Germany. He commented that he had
not returned to Mogadishu since 1993, when he was working
there as an interpreter for the UN Operation in Somalia
(UNOSOM II). During that period, he was involved in a boat
capsizing, and had to swim for an hour and a half before
being rescued. He first came to Addis Ababa in 1993 to
attend UN-sponsored Somali peace talks. A fluent English
speaker, he most recently resided in Germany.
YAMAMOTO