Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07JERUSALEM1232
2007-06-15 16:27:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Jerusalem
Cable title:  

NABIL AMR AND AZZAM AL-AHMAD ON SELECTION OF NEW

Tags:  PREL PGOV KWBG IS PTER KPAL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6847
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1232 1661627
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 151627Z JUN 07
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8055
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY
UNCLAS JERUSALEM 001232 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/WATERS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG IS PTER KPAL
SUBJECT: NABIL AMR AND AZZAM AL-AHMAD ON SELECTION OF NEW
CABINET


Amr: Cabinet Consultations in Progress
---------------------------------------

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 001232

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/WATERS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG IS PTER KPAL
SUBJECT: NABIL AMR AND AZZAM AL-AHMAD ON SELECTION OF NEW
CABINET


Amr: Cabinet Consultations in Progress
--------------


1. (SBU) Nabil Amr told the ConGen POL specialist on June 15
that President Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his close
advisors are nearing consensus on names for cabinet ministers
under PM Salam Fayyad and will meet at 1800 local June 15 at
the Muqata' in Ramallah to finish consultations. He said
they are still debating whether all ministers should be
independents or whether some can be Fatah. Amr said Abbas
and Fayyad need rapid U.S. assurances that the restrictions,
which were imposed after Hamas won the January 2006
parliamentary elections, will be lifted immediately after the
new government is formed. He said this USG step will go a
long way to ensure public support and counter Hamas attacks
on the new government's legitimacy and prospects for success.
Amr said he had proposed Abd al-Razaq al-Yihya for Interior
Minister (MoI). (Note: Al-Yihya was MoI under Yasser Arafat
in the mid-1990s. He is respected for his long service, but
he is also elderly, infirm and not considered a dynamic
leader. End Note.).

Al-Ahmad: Cabinet of Independents Best
--------------


2. (SBU) Fatah PLC Bloc leader (and Deputy PM in the
now-defunct NUG) Azzam al-Ahmad evinced strong disappointment
at not being named PM, but told the ConGen POL specialist
June 15 that the new Cabinet should consist entirely of
independents, to ensure it is perceived as a legitimate
emergency government and to blunt Hamas accusations that it
is an illegitimate collection of Fatah opportunists.
Al-Ahmad said he will attend the June 15 Arab League meeting
and that Jordanian representatives had assured him of
unreserved Jordanian support for Abu Mazen. He said the new
Cabinet must take credit for restrictions being lifted within
30 days of its formation and before the initial 30-day
emergency decree period lapses to boost the Cabinet
legitimacy and ensure its mandate is renewed.
WALLES