Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ADDISABABA87
2007-01-11 14:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Addis Ababa
Cable title:  

ETHIOPIAN FM HAILS COOPERATION, BUT SEEKS LOWER

Tags:  PREL PTER MOPS EAID ET SO KE ER 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0073
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDS #0087/01 0111453
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 111453Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4026
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
C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 000087 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2032
TAGS: PREL PTER MOPS EAID ET SO KE ER
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIAN FM HAILS COOPERATION, BUT SEEKS LOWER
U.S. MILITARY PROFILE, IN SOMALIA

REF: A. ADDIS ABABA 80

B. ADDIS ABABA 40

C. 06 ADDIS ABABA 2093 (NOTAL)

D. ADDIS ABABA 72 (NOTAL)

Classified By: ERIC WONG, DEPUTY POLITICAL-ECONOMIC COUNSELOR. REASONS
: 1.4 (A),(B),AND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 000087

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2032
TAGS: PREL PTER MOPS EAID ET SO KE ER
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIAN FM HAILS COOPERATION, BUT SEEKS LOWER
U.S. MILITARY PROFILE, IN SOMALIA

REF: A. ADDIS ABABA 80

B. ADDIS ABABA 40

C. 06 ADDIS ABABA 2093 (NOTAL)

D. ADDIS ABABA 72 (NOTAL)

Classified By: ERIC WONG, DEPUTY POLITICAL-ECONOMIC COUNSELOR. REASONS
: 1.4 (A),(B),AND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY. In a January 11 meeting with Ambassador,
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin expressed
appreciation for U.S. military cooperation and U.S. political
support of its intervention in Somalia, saying that Somalia
was "a common challenge" that could not be addressed
unilaterally. Reviewing recent discussions with Somalia's
TFG, FM Seyoum said TFG President Yusuf did not favor
impeaching dissident Speaker of Parliament Sharif Hassan
Sheikh Adan, despite pressure from TFG parliamentarians to do
so. Seyoum reiterated Ethiopia's request for Title I food
aid for Ethiopia's urban poor, noting that the "enormous
cost" of military operations in Somalia was "draining"
Ethiopia's resources. While deeply appreciative of bilateral
cooperation in support of Ethiopia's military operations and
efforts to promote regional stability, Foreign Minister
Seyoum underscored the need for the U.S. to minimize any
visible military role in Somalia, so as allay fears of
potential troop contributing countries to peace-keeping
contingents in support of IGASOM. Seyoum reported that
Kenyan FM Tuju was leading one of several Kenyan delegations
aimed at lobbying African countries to deploy to Somalia, and
underscored Ethiopia's request to the United States to
pressure Kenya to expedite the handover to the TFG of senior
Eritrean military commanders captured in Somalia, as well as
other foreign fighters. (NOTE: Foreign Minister Seyoum's
comments on defense relations with the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea will be reported septel. END NOTE.) END
SUMMARY.


2. (C) Ambassador and deputy pol-econ counselor (note-taker)

met January 11 with Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, who was
accompanied by Acting Director-General of the MFA's Europe
and America General Directorate Ms. Almaz Amha and a
note-taker from the MFA's Cabinet Office of the Minister.
Expressing appreciation for U.S. military cooperation and
U.S. support of its intervention in Somalia, FM Seyoum said
Ethiopia recognized that Somalia was "a common challenge"
that could not be addressed unilaterally, and sought to
convey this to the international community.

-------------- --------------
ETHIOPIA AGREES IMPEACHMENT OF TFG SPEAKER SHOULD BE DELAYED
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Ambassador requested that the GOE advocate to the
Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) that
dissident Speaker of Parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan not
be impeached, and underscore the TFG's need to focus on
political outreach. In response, FM Seyoum said Ethiopian
Prime Minister Meles had discussed the issue at length with
TFG President Abdullahi Yusuf. President Yusuf and other TFG
leaders had lost confidence in the Speaker, Seyoum said, and
were "genuinely convinced" that Sharif had been in direct
contact with Council of Islamic Courts (CIC) hard-liners
including CIC Executive Committee Chairman Sheikh Sharif
Ahmed and CIC Consultative Committee Chairman Sheikh Hassan
Dahir Aweys. The TFG also believed that the Speaker had been
involved in the assassination attempt against TFG principals
(ref C),as well as the subsequent flight from Mogadishu of a
female parliamentarian suspected of complicity.
Nevertheless, Seyoum said, the TFG had been advised to delay
any prosecution or impeachment of the Speaker, despite
pressure from TFG parliamentarians to impeach him now.
Seyoum assessed that TFG President Yusuf did not favor
impeaching the Speaker, but added that the Baidoa-based
Speaker had a weakening political base, and may require
guarantees of protection before agreeing to rejoin the TFG in
Mogadishu. The GOE would continue advising the TFG not to
push for the Speaker's impeachment, Seyoum said, even though
he had "done a lot of damage."


4. (C) Reviewing USG engagement with the EU, AU, and
potential African troop-contributing countries (TCCs) to
build support for the prompt deployment of an international

peace-keeping force in Somalia (IGASOM),Ambassador observed
that the USG was working hard to support IGASOM, including
pushing the EU to disperse 15 million Euros earmarked for
Somalia from the EU's African Peace Facility fund. The USG
was also working on delivering "high-visibility, high-impact"
humanitarian assistance to Somalia (e.g., food aid),as Prime
Minister Meles had suggested (ref A).

-------------- --------------
GUNS OR BUTTER: FOOD AID NEEDED FOR ETHIOPIA'S POOR
-------------- --------------


5. (C) Citing a 20 per cent increase in some food prices,
Ambassador noted that the USG was reviewing PM Meles' January
4 request to AF A/S Frazer for Title I food aid for urban
poor in Ethiopia (refs B, D). Seyoum said the request had
resulted from discussions in the GOE's National Security
Council, and that he would discuss "in general terms" the
economic strain of sustaining military operations in a
meeting later in the day with ambassadors from donor
countries. The high cost of fuel and other expenses were
"draining the resources of the government," Seyoum said.
Monetized food aid could generate revenue to promote job
creation opportunities, Seyoum added.

-------------- --------------
U.S. MILITARY MUST MAINTAIN "LOW PROFILE" IN SOMALIA
-------------- --------------


6. (C) FM Seyoum requested that the USG endeavor to keep U.S.
military engagement in Somalia at "a low profile," citing
concerns among potential African TCCs that media reports of
direct U.S. involvement in airstrikes created greater risk of
terrorist attacks against peace-keeping contingents. Seyoum
recommended that the USG publicly state that it would not
conduct any future military operations in Somalia, so as not
to "alarm" potential TCCs for Somalia.

-------------- --------------
KENYA LOBBYING POTENTIAL TROOP CONTRIBUTORS FOR IGASOM...
-------------- --------------


7. (C) Seyoum noted that he had met Kenyan Foreign Minister
Tuju on January 9, in Juba, southern Sudan, on the margins of
the commemoration of the second anniversary of Sudan's
Comprehensive Peace Agreement. According to Seyoum, Kenya
was dispatching three separate delegations to lobby nine
African countries about contributing troops to IGASOM: FM
Tuju was to lead a mission to Angola, Mozambique, and South
Africa.

-------------- --------------
... BUT MAY RELEASE ERITREAN COMMANDERS ASSISTING THE CIC
-------------- --------------


8. (C) FM Seyoum highlighted Ethiopia's interest in having
the Kenyan government expedite the surrender of senior
Eritrean military officers in its custody to the TFG, rather
than release them for return to Eritrea, and said PM Meles
would raise the issue later in the day with Kenyan President
Kibaki. Seyoum noted that these officers were senior
commanders and international terrorists, who had been
"training, organizing, and commanding an international force
to destroy the constitutional government in Somalia." Seyoum
said that Kenya had planned to charge the foreign fighters
only with crossing the border illegally with arms; doing so
would provide an opportunity for Eritrea to mount a legal
defense for them, and obtain their likely release in days.
As of January 9, he said, Eritrean officers and other foreign
fighters in Kenyan custody were being held at the provincial

government office at Garissa, in Kenya's North Eastern
Province. The Kenyan government had pledged to surrender
them to the TFG after interrogation, but the GOE feared that
corrupt Kenyan officials would help the Eritrean officers
flee to Eritrea, Seyoum said. Asmara had dispatched the GSE
Agriculture Minister to Kenya to seek their release, he said.



9. (C) Among those now in Kenyan custody were Eritrean
Brigadier General Hadish Ephraim, whom Seyoum said was
well-known to Ethiopia for having served at the Assab-Bure
front during the 1998-2000 Ethiopia-Eritrea war. Seyoum said

that BG Ephraim had coordinated military operations of the
CIC and other foreign fighters in Somalia; a close associate
of Eritrean President Isaias, Ephraim had been sent to
Somalia to "open another front" with Ethiopia. Seyoum urged
the USG to reinforce to Nairobi the need for Kenyan
authorities to surrender Ephraim and others to the TFG;
allowing them to return to Eritrea would be "very, very
damaging" to Ethio-Kenyan relations, Seyoum said. Citing
erroneous press reports that Ethiopian aircraft had attacked
a Kenyan border post, Ambassador underscored the need for a
closer, more formal working relationship among principals
from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia's TFG.


10. (C) COMMENT: While deeply appreciative of bilateral
cooperation in support of Ethiopia's military operations and
efforts to promote regional stability, Foreign Minister
Seyoum underscored the need for the U.S. to minimize any
visible military role in Somalia, so as allay fears of
potential troop contributing countries considering sending
peace-keeping contingents in support of IGASOM. U.S.
counter-terrorism activities directed against high-value
targets must therefore be carefully coordinated with public
diplomacy efforts, to ensure they do not deter potential
peace-keeping deployments, which are a prerequisite for
Ethiopia's withdrawal (ref A). END COMMENT.
YAMAMOTO