Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ADDISABABA2369
2007-07-26 15:30:00
SECRET//NOFORN
Embassy Addis Ababa
Cable title:  

ETHIOPIA: PRESSURED BY HARD-LINERS, GOE LASHES OUT

Tags:  PREL PINS MOPS EAID ET US 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDS #2369/01 2071530
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 261530Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7200
INFO 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
S E C R E T ADDIS ABABA 002369 

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2032
TAGS: PREL PINS MOPS EAID ET US
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: PRESSURED BY HARD-LINERS, GOE LASHES OUT
AGAINST NGOS

REF: ADDIS ABABA 2361

Classified By: AMBASSADOR DONALD YAMAMOTO. REASON: 1.4 (B) AND (D).

S E C R E T ADDIS ABABA 002369

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2032
TAGS: PREL PINS MOPS EAID ET US
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: PRESSURED BY HARD-LINERS, GOE LASHES OUT
AGAINST NGOS

REF: ADDIS ABABA 2361

Classified By: AMBASSADOR DONALD YAMAMOTO. REASON: 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (S/NF) The GOE's expulsion of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) from the Somali Region highlights the
deep internal cabinet divisions over operations in the Ogaden
and extending into the conduct of operations in Somalia, and
has implications for relations with the U.S. During a July
24 meeting, the Prime Minister told the Ambassador that his
cabinet, essentially the ruling party Central Committee, was
divided over various approaches against insurgents in
Ethiopia's Ogaden area (Somali Region). Prime Minister Meles
noted that the government was collecting "unimpeachable"
evidence--that would "stand up in a court of law under strict
judicial procedures"--in order to prosecute any individual or
organization that was directly supporting terrorist
activities in the Ogaden or the Ogaden National Liberation
Front (ONLF) in conducting terrorist acts in Ethiopia.
(NOTE: ICRC is currently in discussions with federal GOE
authorities in an attempt to reverse the decision of the
Somali Region government ordering ICRC to leave the Somali
Region within 7 days. END NOTE.)


2. (S/NF) It is widely rumored that a few Ethiopian-Ogadeni
staff working for NGOs and other groups involved in various
activities in the Ogaden have actively supported ONLF
activities. This has prompted hard-liners within the ruling
party Central Committee to urge a more aggressive approach
against the local staff working for international
organizations in the Ogaden. Since the government stepped up
its counterinsurgency operations in the Ogaden in the past
several months, NGOs and international organizations have
privately reported to us that "Caucasian workers" have been
allowed almost full access throughout the Ogaden, but that
local Ogadeni staff have been harassed by the Ethiopian
military. Some NGOs, like Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors
Without Borders),added that they dare not bring
"highlanders" (i.e., local staff from Amhara or Tigray
Regions) to work in the Somali Region because of opposition
by the local Ogadeni population.


3. (S/NF) The government has argued that the ONLF is not
merely a local insurgent group but a terrorist organization,
with links to foreign terrorist groups like Al-Qaida and
countries that support terrorist or destabilizing activities
in the Horn of Africa, like Eritrea. Prime Minister Meles
expressed the deep frustration of the Central Committee over
international press focus on the humanitarian problems in the
Ogaden, and positive depiction of the ONLF by the press,
particularly the New York Times. Meles articulated the major
criticism by the hard-line members of the Central Committee
that the international community had ignored that the ONLF,
with support from other groups, had massacred over 60
Ethiopian and 7 Chinese oil workers (i.e., in an April 24
attack). He also said hard-liners could not understand why
no one condemned the attacks by the ONLF.


4. (S/NF) The Ambassador has argued to members of the Central
Committee that the U.S. was the first country to condemn the
attacks and express sympathy to the people and governments of
Ethiopia and China. But hard-line Central Committee members
always retort that the U.S. should have done more, such as
designate the ONLF as a terrorist group. Further, the
Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) believes that the
U.S. would not stand against the ONLF because the USG does
not reign in members of Congress and the New York Times from
contacting the ONLF. More important, contacts by the J2X
(force protection) for CJTF-HOA humanitarian activities in
the Ogaden two years ago, despite such contacts being
conducted to protect U.S. forces, underscore the ENDF,s bias
that the USG will not go against the ONLF.


5. (S/NF) As the ENDF continues to withdraw from Somalia, and
Ogaden operations "wind down," the focus of the GOE should
shift to other issues. This will help tone down the
frustration regarding the Ogaden and help the ENDF and
hard-liners in the Central Committee refocus: changing their
perception of the U.S. from a problem in the Ogaden, to what
Prime Minister Meles constantly argues, an invaluable partner
in guaranteeing Ethiopia's security. The ENDF and

hard-liners in the Central Committee have a difficult time
understanding that the popularity of the ONLF within the
Somali Region can only be dealt with directly by addressing
the Ogadeni population themselves, and not looking to the NGO
community and others as a convenient scapegoat.
YAMAMOTO