EGYPT PLEASED WITH MALIKI VISIT, MUBARAK EXPRESSES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 001204 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER MOPS ECON EFIN EG IZ SUBJECT: EGYPT PLEASED WITH MALIKI VISIT, MUBARAK EXPRESSES STRONG SUPPORT REF: A. CAIRO 1188 (NOTAL) ¶B. CAIRO 672 (NOTAL) ¶C. CAIRO 7142 ¶D. CAIRO 6770 (NOTAL) Classified by Charge d'Affaires Stuart Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is in Egypt April 22-24 to meet the Egyptian leadership and to begin the process of normalizing strained relations, overcoming mutual suspicions, discussing commercial opportunities, and preparing for upcoming international meetings on Iraq. Maliki has met with President Mubarak, Prime Minister Nazif, Interior Minister al-Adly, and the Sheikh of Al Azhar, among others. Privately, Nazif told the Ambassador that Maliki's visit has been "very positive," adding that President Mubarak had tasked Nazif with forming bilateral Egyptian-Iraqi working groups at the ministerial level to look at ways to cooperate on security, energy, trade, and oil/gas. Nazif said that while forgiving Iraq's debt to private Egyptian citizens and companies would prove difficult, there was a greater possibility of forgiving Iraq's official debt, which he estimated at USD 240 million, but not before the Sharm El Sheikh Iraq Compact ministerial. End summary. -------------- Schedule and Delegation -------------- ¶2. (C) Maliki, accompanied by National Security Advisor Mowafaq al Rubaie, Spokesman Ali al Dabbagh, Interior Minister Jawad al Bolani, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Raad al Issawi, arrived in Cairo on April 22. They met first with President Mubarak, followed by a live, joint press conference with Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif. Maliki and delegation also met late into the evening on April 22 with Arab League SYG Moussa and senior staff. Maliki is also expected to meet Egypt's Speaker of Parliament Fathy Sorour, and with the Sheikh of Al Azhar on April 23, and will depart for Kuwait early on the morning of April 24. -------------- Press Coverage of the Visit -------------- ¶3. (SBU) As anticipated, local media interest in the visit has been intense and extensive, with most coverage factual and positive. During his joint press conference with Maliki, PM Nazif emphasized several points: that Egypt strongly supports Iraq "by all available means to achieve peace and stability"; that Egypt supports all efforts to achieve national reconciliation in Iraq; that Egypt strongly denounces terrorism; and, that Egypt is working to ensure the success of upcoming meetings in Sharm El Sheikh. Maliki said that Iraq would be open to Egyptian companies and that Egypt could be "a partner Iraq's development process." This visit, Maliki told reporters, "will mark the beginning of a serious reactivation of bilateral relations." Later, during a joint press conference with Arab League SYG Amre Moussa, Maliki stated his opposition to construction of a Baghdad security wall being built around a Sunni neighborhood. "I am opposed to the building of the wall and its construction is going to stop," he told reporters at the Arab League. -------------- -------------- Nazif to Ambassador: This Has Been Very Positive -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) On April 23, Prime Minister Nazif told the Ambassador that Maliki's visit so far has been "very positive" and that he had been well received by President Mubarak and others. Nazif said that Maliki brought two messages: first, that his government was for "all Iraqis" and not biased for or against any group; and second, that Iraq's security problems were caused by "terrorists" -- specifically Al Qaida -- and not by sectarian strife. "I'm not sure we agree with that assessment," Nazif confided to the Ambassador, but "we recognize this is how the government of Iraq sees it." ¶5. (C) Nazif said that Maliki had asked for greater Egyptian involvement in Iraq's reconstruction, especially in rebuilding its infrastructure and helping with security and intelligence, adding that Maliki had met with GoE intelligence and security interlocutors yesterday. Moreover, Nazif said that President Mubarak had instructed him to set CAIRO 00001204 002 OF 002 up ministerial-level bilateral "teams" to work with the Iraqis and see how best to address issues of common concern. Nazif said Maliki welcomed the idea of bilateral, ministerial-level teams, and believed that Maliki might well bring with him his ministers of energy, trade, and petroleum to kick-off the collaboration at the Sharm El Sheikh Ministerial Meetings on May 3 and 4. (Note: Nazif was unsure if he himself would attend the Sharm conferences. End note.) ¶6. (C) On Iraq debt relief, Nazif said that "about 80 per cent" of Iraq's debt to Egypt was private in nature -- primarily to former expatriate Egyptian workers or private Egyptian companies -- and it would be very difficult for the government to forgive such debt. He characterized 20 per cent of the debt as "official" -- about USD 240 million. (Note: USG figures suggest USD 240 million is in official debt; USD 614 is in interest on official debt; and USD 408 million is in remittances, totaling USD 1.262 billion in debt. End note.) "We can probably do something about this, but frankly, we are testing the Iraqis," Nazif said. If things continue "to go in the right direction" in Iraq, he continued, then forgiving the official debt "is something we are inclined to do." But he stressed that this was not a done deal -- "we will take this one step at a time" and will likely not make a decision on this issue before the Sharm el-Sheik Compact conference. ¶7. (C) Turning to Turkey, Nazif said he had taken the Ambassador's advice to call PM Erdogan to calm ruffled feathers at not being chosen to host the Iraq Compact and Neighbors meetings, but had been talked out of it by foreign minister Aboul Gheit who argued that it was "a matter of internal Turkish politics." Nazif said that Egyptian-Turkish relations were growing stronger. The Turks understand that it was Iraq's decision to hold the Neighbors' conference in Egypt; "they don't hold it against us." Nazif said it was important that Turkish FM Gul should come to Sharm, and that Aboul Gheit would follow up. ¶8. (C) In a separate conversation, Presidential spokesman and senior advisor Soliman Awad told the Ambassador that Maliki's visit was going extremely well, echoing Nazif's sentiments. President Mubarak was "committed to support" the Maliki government, he said. Meanwhile, Arab League cabinet staffer Lama Kassem told poloff that the atmosphere surrounding Maliki's AL meetings had been "warm and non-contentious," except for an exchange at dinner with permreps when Maliki accused the Syrians of funding the Iraq insurgency. As for Arab League efforts at reconciliation among Iraqis, Kassem said Maliki was pleased with the AL's efforts, and had promised to continue dialogue and cooperation. JONES