UGANDA: OFFICIAL DISCUSSIONS WITH ERITREA ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 000669

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/17
TAGS: PREL EAID KPKO MOPS ET SO ER KE UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA: OFFICIAL DISCUSSIONS WITH ERITREA ON
SOMALIA


Classified By: P/E Chief Kathleen FitzGibbon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).


1. (C) Summary: President Museveni and Foreign Minister
Kutesa held two separate, but similar, meetings with Eritrean
President Isaias Afewerki over the issue of external support
for Somali factions. Museveni and Kutesa asked that Eritrea
end its support for the Islamic Courts in early April and
late March. In both meetings, Isaias accused Uganda of being
dragged into Somalia by the U.S. and Ethiopia and warned
Uganda to pull out its troops. Museveni denied being a
"stooge" of the U.S. Museveni apparently had hoped that
direct engagement could persuade Eritrea to cooperate, but
walked away empty-handed. Museveni reportedly remains
concerned about Eritrea's "isolation" and ties to Sudan.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials say Uganda will
continue to reach out to Eritrea on regional issues,
including Somalia. End Summary.


2. (C) President Yoweri Museveni and Foreign Minister Sam
Kutesa met with Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki in two
separate meetings held within a period of two weeks. Julius
Kagamba Singoma, the Director for East Africa and Somalia at
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was present in Kutesa's
meeting on March 22 and traveled with Museveni for his
meeting on April 2. He relayed this account of the meetings
to P/E Chief.


3. (C) On March 22, Museveni sent Kutesa as a special envoy
to present Isaias with evidence of Eritrean complicity with
Islamic elements and ask that Eritrea end this support.
Kutesa presented photographs of Eritreans who were killed in
Mogadishu and intelligence information from captured
Eritreans, according to Kagamba. Kutesa told Isaias that the
Ugandan Government wanted Isaias to have ground truth.
According to Kagamba, Iasias did not deny Kutesa's
allegations and asked Kutesa why Uganda went to Somalia. He
accused Uganda of being "dragged in" by the United States and
Ethiopia. He advised Kutesa that it is not too late to get
out. He also warned Kutesa that Uganda would regret getting
involved. Isaias then launched into a long history of the
region. He said that Uganda could not understand the
dynamics of the situation because it was not Ugandan history,
but Eritrea's and Ethiopia's history in the Horn of Africa.


4. (C) Kutesa responded that Uganda was once a failed state
that needed its neighbors' help. Tanzanian intervention
helped get Uganda back on the right track. Kutesa said that
President Museveni wanted Isaias' help with restoring
stability and order in Somalia. Isaias told Kutesa that
Somalia was a highly complicated situation that could not
easily be resolved. He stated that the Transitional Federal
Government was not legitimate. The Islamic Courts were a
legitimate authority and had been accepted by the Somali
people. Uganda needed to withdraw quickly. He warned Kutesa
that the best scenario for Uganda if it remained in Somalia
would be worse than Iraq is for the United States. Isaias
said that the U.S. could afford to absorb the costs in lives
and funding of Iraq, but that Uganda could bear the price
that it would pay in Somalia. Isaias also told Kutesa that
both the African Union and Intergovernmental Authority for
Development (IGAD) were "dead" because neither institution
checked Ethiopian aggression.


5. (C) Museveni met with Isaias on April 2 to urge Eritrea
to end support for Somali Islamists. According to Kagamba,
Museveni's meeting with Isaias unfolded along the same lines.
Isaias repeated his warning that Uganda should leave Somalia
as soon as possible. Publicly, Isaias described Uganda's
intervention as "hasty." Isaias also said that Uganda was
part of a peacekeeping force that was "taking sides."
Uganda's Regional Affairs Minister Isaac Musumba, who also
traveled to Asmara, stated that Museveni went to Eritrea to
find middle ground. Uganda is supporting the IGAD-created
TFG. Eritrea wants "the Islamic Courts Union as a legitimate
government in Somalia." He added that Eritrea would not
recognize the TFG.


6. (C) According to Kagamba, the atmospherics of the Kutesa
meeting were good, despite the deep differences in positions.
He said that Isaias received Kutesa immediately after
arrival and that the Eritrean Government officials appeared
to appreciate the visit. Museveni came away from his meeting
convinced that Eritrea was closely coordinating its
activities in Somalia and Darfur with Sudan. Kagamba said
that the President had thought he could reason with Isaias
because he had considered Eritrea not to be in the sphere of
the "Arab fundamentalists." However, Museveni's meeting with
Isaias changed his mind about Eritrea's intentions and allies.


7. (C) Nonetheless, Ugandan Foreign Ministry officials were

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pleased that Eritrea attended a recent IGAD meeting,
according to Kagamba. However, Eritrea balked at the
provisions in the communique which commended Ethiopia for
rescuing the Transitional Federal Government, expressed
concern about extremists, and invited the international
community to provide assistance to Somalia.


8. (U) In a related development, Museveni publicly denied
being a "stooge" of the U.S., and he defended Uganda's
participation in Somalia in an April 19 newspaper statement.
Museveni refuted assertions made in an earlier newspaper
article that the recent events in Somalia were orchestrated
by the United States; that the U.S. decided "their guy" is
Abdallahi Yusuf; Ethiopia was the only "ally" of the U.S. in
the Horn of Africa; the IGAD initiative in Kenya that
resulted in the Somalia agreement was inspired by the U.S.;
and the violence in Somalia is now "worse than ever."
Museveni pointed out that the U.S. took actions that delayed
the implementation of IGAD's plans for Somalia, but that U.S.
support now for African efforts on Somalia was welcome.
Museveni stated that it is insulting to be called a "stooge"
of the U.S. because black African countries were capable of
defending regional interests without being told to do so by
Western powers. Museveni stated that the Islamic Courts made
mistakes and should now negotiate with other Somalis to
broaden unity, enrich the interim arrangement for an agreed
period, and hold elections to give back to the Somalis their
sovereignty.

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COMMENT
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9. (C) According to our MFA contacts, Museveni and Kutesa
walked away empty-handed from their visits to Eritrea.
Nonetheless, MFA officials say that Uganda is in Somalia for
the long haul and would continue to look for ways to diminish
external support for the various Somali factions.
BROWNING