ETHIOPIA: PRIME MINISTER MELES FLUSTERED ON THE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 002597 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/E, AND INR/AA LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER CJTF-HOA AND USCENTCOM FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2017 TAGS: PGOV PINS PREL MOPS ET SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: PRIME MINISTER MELES FLUSTERED ON THE OGADEN REF: A. ADDIS ABABA 2566 ¶B. ADDIS ABABA 2445 Classified By: AMBASSADOR DONALD YAMAMOTO. REASON: 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (S/NF) SUMMARY. Prime Minister Meles expressed to the Ambassador and ORA chief on August 18 his frustration over international criticism of Ethiopian operations in the Ogaden. Defensive in tone, the Prime Minister said the counterinsurgency operation against the Ogadeni National Liberation Front (ONLF) and extremist elements crossing from Somalia was "a domestic terrorism issue" that was coming to a conclusion. He emphasized that the Ethiopian Government was not using food as a weapon against the people of the Ogaden, and that the government was arranging for food deliveries and welcomed additional assistance from the U.S. He asserted that civilians were not being targeted, and that actions were directed only against insurgents and hard-core insurgent supporters, carefully noting that supporters forced to support the ONLF were not being arrested. ¶2. (S/NF) The Prime Minister questioned out of frustration whether the U.S. understood and supported, or at least accepted, what Ethiopia was doing in the Ogaden. He alleged that ONLF leaders were in the U.S., including former Admiral of the Somali Navy Mohamed Omar Osman, and remarked that he had received "intelligence" that that USG officials were meeting with these officials. Ambassador asserted that we were not meeting with ONLF officials and requested specific information from the Prime Minister on ONLF individuals whom the government believes are engaged in terrorist activities. The Prime Minister's questions reflect Ethiopia's irritation and frustration over their actions in the Ogaden, and their reaction has been to hold information and deny charges. Ambassador urged the Prime Minister to pursue a more open strategy with the press and international community by explaining to the public their activities and goals in the Ogaden, and to address concerns raised rather than to simply ignore or deny charges. END SUMMARY. -------------- WHY ALL THE CRITICISM? -------------- ¶3. (S/NF) Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi met with the Ambassador and ORA chief on August 18 and displayed frustration and deep irritation with the international press, NGO, and diplomatic criticism of Ethiopian counterinsurgency operations in the Ogaden. He asserted that it was a three-phase operation. First, the Ethiopian military (ENDF) had been able to disrupt terrorist activities by attacking the command and control structure of the ONLF and terrorist groups crossing the border from Somalia. Underscoring that the ONLF was a terrorist organization that brutally murdered Chinese and Ethiopian oil workers in April 2007, the Prime Minister said that the ONLF and other extremist groups had been scattered into smaller groups. Phase 2 was now underway to pursue these smaller groups as well as hard-core supporters of the ONLF. The Prime Minister made it clear that those civilians and individuals forced to support the ONLF would not be arrested, only those actively supporting and aiding ONLF fighters. The Prime Minister underscored, however, that the ENDF faced significant challenges in locating key ONLF leaders in country, a gap that needed to be rectified in the near future. ¶4. (S/NF) The Prime Minister noted that no one was starving in the Ogaden, and that price hikes were only a recent phenomena in the Ogaden. Food prices had increased far more rapidly in Addis Ababa than in the Ogaden. He added that the ENDF was not targeting civilians, was not conducting indiscriminate killings and rape, was not burning villages, and was not forcing innocent civilians from their homes into cantonment camps. The ENDF was targeting operations only against those who were clearly ONLF and hard-core ONLF supporters. Additionally, the ENDF and Ethiopian security forces planned to pursue and neutralize any threat posed by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). ADDIS ABAB 00002597 002 OF 003 -------------- SECURITY IS ESSENTIAL -------------- ¶5. (S/NF) When the Ambassador raised the issue of the critical need to deliver emergency food aid and to allow resumption of commercial food (which provides up to 80 percent of all food for the Ogaden),the Prime Minister replied that security was essential to ensure that commercial traffic was not being used to support the ONLF and other insurgents. Security concerns were disrupting commercial traffic, but security was improving and commercial operations should improve. The Prime Minister expressed consternation and irritation that there was so much international concern over the Ogaden. He repeatedly stressed that the situation was improving and that conditions would improve. The Prime Minister discussed with the Ambassador and ORA chief concerns of continued terrorist threats against targets in Ethiopia, especially in Addis Ababa. The incursion by insurgents from Somalia into Ethiopia, whom the GOE charges the ONLF is supporting, was challenging Ethiopia's security apparatus. Meles underscored that Ethiopian security forces were securing Ethiopia as best they could in advance of the Millennium celebrations in Addis Ababa the week of September 10, as well as to secure the Ogaden region. -------------- QUESTIONS ABOUT THE U.S. -------------- ¶6. (S/NF) The Prime Minister asked if the U.S. understood and supported Ethiopia's campaign in the Ogaden. The U.S., more than any other country, should understand the security threats from Somalia to Ethiopia, terrorist operations in Ethiopia (especially targeting Addis Ababa),and ONLF activities in the Ogaden. Meles said that comments by the New York Times charging massive human rights violations in the Ogaden, and statements by members of the U.S. Congress, were undercutting Ethiopia's efforts in the Ogaden and providing credence to ONLF disinformation. The Prime Minister asked about rumors that ONLF leaders were visiting the U.S., and that USG officials intended to meet with the ONLF; the PM also asked about a reported meeting in the U.S. among the OLF, ONLF, and the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD). The Ambassador replied that the U.S. had no intention of meeting with ONLF representatives, and that if ONLF officials were in the U.S., we welcomed information from the GOE on who the individuals were and what activities they had been involved in support of terrorism. The Ambassador underscored that trust between the U.S. and Ethiopia, an important strategic ally for the U.S., was critical to counter efforts by extremists seeking to undercut this relationship. ¶7. (S/NF) The Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for U.S. assistance and support (especially in Somalia),in countering Eritrean destabilizing activities, and in enhancing Ethiopia's security. But doubts remained among Ethiopian officials, especially in the Ethiopian military, that the U.S. was not sympathetic to what Ethiopia was doing in the Ogaden and did not understand the security threats. -------------- ADVICE FROM THE U.S.: TRANSPARENCY -------------- ¶8. (S/NF) The Ambassador suggested to Prime Minister Meles that the GOE needed to be up-front in explaining its operations in the Ogaden, and to address international concerns and criticism. The GOE needed to explain what the conditions were in the Ogaden, and how it was meeting humanitarian and security needs, especially how humanitarian food relief was progressing, and what steps the GOE was taking to allow the resumption of commercial food deliveries. Further, the GOE needed to articulate the threats, and how they were being addressed. ¶9. (S/NF) COMMENT. The Prime Minister was clearly exhausted from months of addressing operations in Somalia and added to ADDIS ABAB 00002597 003 OF 003 his burden the challenges in the Ogaden. We have been working in private with the Ethiopian government at every level--from the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, to Meles, close inner cabinet, including the Security Chief--to advocate that the GOE be more open in addressing the concerns raised by the press and international community, as well as to open more corridors for humanitarian food relief and commercial traffic, key elements for the Ogaden. The U.S. Embassy has also taken the lead among the international community, organizing meetings with the NGOs, UN, and diplomatic corps (ref B) to ensure accuracy of information and coordination of actions to help the GOE address the problems in the Ogaden. The U.S. Embassy decision on a disaster declaration (ref A) will help meet GOE requests for additional food assistance for the Ogaden. END COMMENT. YAMAMOTO