DJIBOUTI REPLACES DUBAI AS A FOOD FOR PEACE

S E C R E T DJIBOUTI 001414 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USAID FOR ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR ALMQUIST AND EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT FEINSTEIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2032 TAGS: DJ EAID ECON ET FAS MAS MOPS PINR PM PREF PREL, PTER SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI REPLACES DUBAI AS A FOOD FOR PEACE PRE-POSITIONING SITE; PRESIDENT GUELLEH WARNS OF MALNUTRITION, BORDER TENSIONS Classified By: AMBASSADOR W. STUART SYMINGTON FOR REASONS 1.4 (B)(C)(D) ¶1. (C) In a November 26 meeting, Djibouti's President Ismael Omar Guelleh warmly thanked USAID Assistant Administrator for Africa Kate Almquist for the U.S. decision to make Djibouti the new site for pre-positioned Food For Peace aid in the region (replacing Dubai). Guelleh called the decision a vote of confidence in Djibouti's strategy to partner with Dubai Ports World to become a key logistical center for trade and transportation, as well as banking and military support. Guelleh, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssuf, said United Arab Emirate investors planned to make Djibouti an air hub, too, launching a new regional carrier. Djibouti's goal for the port, Guelleh added, was to service the growing Ethiopian market and, after expanding port capacity, to increase transshipments to other countries in the region until they represented 30-40 percent of the port's business ¶2. (SBU) Almquist was joined by Barbara Feinstein, the USAID Adminitrator's Executive Assistant, USAID/Djibouti's Janet Schulman, Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa Commander Admiral James Hart, and Ambassador. Almquist congratulated Guelleh on the great progress she saw in Djibouti since her last visit. She reaffirmed USAID's commitment to Djibouti and conveyed USAID Administrator Fore's regrets not to be able to visit at this time because of an urgent call to return to Washington in advance of the Middle East meeting. Almquist praised Djibouti for its public-private partnerships, and for its new University and Medical School. She invited Djibouti to send its University head to a U.S.-hosted conference on higher education next year. ¶3. (C) Guelleh said malnutrition was Djibouti's greatest danger. He termed the problem 'alarming" and asked for USAID expertise, working with private sector initiatives to increase food security by increasing production. Djibouti is experimenting with green house cultivation with Indian and Moroccan help, it is growing crops on land loaned to Djibouti by Sudan (and seeking similar plots for production in Ethiopia),and it is planting date tree seedlings. Guelleh said the first harvest from the Sudan land was expected soon and would be some 15-20,000 metric tons of grain. Almquist encouraged public private partnerships to develop new food production. ¶4. (S/NF) Turning to security, Guelleh worried that Ethiopian and Eritrean tensions might lead to conflict. He estimated at 74,000 the number of troops massed on the border and said that there was a real danger a spark would set off serious fighting. Some in Ethiopia favor "breaking" Eritrea now, he added, because of its support for Ethiopian revolutionaries and Somali insurgents. But Guelleh predicted Prime Minister Meles would not initiate action and that Meles could keep his military in check at the moment. Guelleh said that he had instructed his Chief of Defense to consult with the French Armed Forces in Djibouti and with the U.S. to consider joint efforts to monitor the border area and ensure that neither Ethiopia or Eritrea used Djiboutian territory to maneuver if war were to break out. (Note: The French Ambassador later told me that he had received that request. Under a 1977 security accord, the French are obligated to use their military here to maintain Djibouti's territorial integrity. Our military cooperation program here includes ongoing efforts to enhance Djibouti's capacity to control its own borders, but not to provide that security ourselves. End Note.) SYMINGTON