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).

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Summary
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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.

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Schedule and Delegation
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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.

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Press Coverage of the Visit
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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.

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Nazif to Ambassador: This Has Been Very Positive
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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

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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