SAG SUPPORT TO SOMALI NATIONAL RECONCILIATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 001743 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT. PLEASE PASS TO NEA/RA FOR LLANGEVIN, AF/E FOR NGAREY, AND NEA/ARP FOR RJACHIM/SRAMESH. E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/19/2027 TAGS: PREL SOCI SO SA SUBJECT: SAG SUPPORT TO SOMALI NATIONAL RECONCILIATION CONFERENCE STILL UNCONFIRMED REF: A. NAIROBI 03092 ¶B. JEDDAH 00357 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael Gfoeller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal reportedly pledged approximately USD 30 million towards the Somali National Reconciliation Conference and offered to host a final peace agreement signing ceremony in the Kingdom during his July meeting with Somali Transitional Federal Government Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi. However, there is little consensus on the details of Al-Faisal's financial and political commitments to Gedi, and Saudi officials have thus far been unable to provide Post with any concrete information. Many foreign diplomats posted in Riyadh concur that the Saudis do not trust Somali leadership or Somalis in general and are hedging their bets on the outcome of this conference. The SAG appears to be encouraging seemingly disparate parties to participate in the peace conference, yet publicly maintaining its policy of non-interference in internal matters of sovereign countries. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi visited Jeddah in mid-July to meet with Saudi officials, including King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, and Interior Minister Prince Nayif bin Abdul Aziz. While Somalis are publicly thanking the Saudis for their financial contributions to the Somali National Reconciliation Conference (NRC) (ref A), there is little consensus on the details of Prince Saud's financial and political commitments. ¶3. (C) Somali Consul in Riyadh Musa Omaar Loodi (strictly protect) confirmed to PolOff on July 29 that the SAG had pledged approximately USD 30 million for the NRC, adding that if the conference "comes to fruition," the Saudis offered tentatively to host the final peace agreement signing ceremony in Mecca. ¶4. (C) However, Ambassador Dr. Saleh A. Al-Kuhaimi, Director of the MFA's Arab States Department, told PolOff on July 29 that while the meeting between Prince Saud and PM Gedi was "fruitful" and the Somalis were "pleased with our support," there were "no firm commitments" to his knowledge. He added that the Saudis want "all parties to participate... including the moderates within the Mahakim (Council of Islamic Courts)." Comparing Somalia to Iraq and Lebanon, Al-Kuhaimi said that the Saudis "don't take sides" in the internal affairs of sovereign countries. Alluding to the more extremist elements within the Mahakim, he said that Saudis "do not like to see extremists or rigid groups involved in negotiations." He disclosed that, prior to Gedi's meeting with Al-Faisal, King Abdullah had offered to host a Somali peace conference in Jeddah, and that this offer still stands. ¶5. (C) Norwegian Deputy Chief of Mission Paal Bjornestad told PolOff on August 12 that the Saudis are intently focusing on Somalia. He noted that Ambassador Al-Kuhaimi told him that Somalia has received more Saudi aid than any other Arab state -- USD 5 billion since the fall of the Siad Barre regime. He also heard that the Saudis directly contributed approximately USD 32 million to the NRC, adding that this amount was either the entire SAG contribution or the first installment towards financing the entire USD 198 million cost of the NRC. He shared that the Saudis conditioned this funding on the final peace agreement signing ceremony, which would be held in Riyadh. As a follow-up to the meeting between Al-Faisal and Gedi, Bjornestad said that the SAG was invited on July 24 to participate in the International Advisory Committee (IAC) and IAC Working Group, which is coordinating international technical and financial assistance to the NRC through the UNDP multi-donor support project. As of August 15, the SAG has not yet responded to this invitation. ¶6. (C) Dr. Sulaiman Al-Turki, Economic Advisor to the Minister of Finance, told PolOff on July 31 that he was unable to find any MFA document or royal directive ordering the Ministry of Finance to transfer funds to the NRC. Yousef Al-Bassam, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the Saudi Fund for Development, also told PolOff on July 30 that while the Saudi leadership had committed an unspecified amount for reconstruction and development in Somalia, no transfers had taken place due to instability. He claimed that any funding would be for "infrastructure, health, and education" projects, but said that funding was not tied to the NRC. ¶7. (C) Ethiopian Ambassador Yusuf Sukkar (strictly protect) expressed doubts to PolOff on July 28 that the Saudis had offered significant funding to PM Gedi, because the Somalis are "not known for accountability." Regarding possible Saudi conditions for financial assistance, Sukkar presumed that the Saudis had encouraged the Somalis to include the Council of Islamic Courts in the discussions. He added that Al-Faisal sent a letter after the meeting to Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, recognizing the strong bilateral relationship and Saudi interest in supporting peace in Somalia. (NOTE: The Ethiopian MFA's press section published a summary of Prince Saud's letter to FM Seyoum in its July 20 "A Week in the Horn of Africa" and noted that PM Gedi publicly thanked the Saudis for donating over 30 million dollars to the NRC. END NOTE.) ¶8. (C) Egyptian Political Counselor Dr. Ahmed Bahaa El-Din (strictly protect) also questioned whether the Saudis made a serious commitment with a specific timeline during an informal conversation with PolOff on July 29, stating that this was "not the Saudi way." He speculated that PM Gedi had made three requests to the Saudi Foreign Minister -- political support for the TFG, financial support for the NRC, and a request that the SAG stop private Saudi financing of the Council of Islamic Courts. He confided that the Saudis had "limited trust of the Somali Government and Somalis in general." He added that he had heard that the Saudis offered to host the NRC and/or final peace agreement ceremony in Jeddah. ¶9. (C) However, Fathi Osman Ahmed (strictly protect),Second Secretary at the Eritrean Embassy, suggested to PolOff on SIPDIS August 11 that the Saudis are reluctant to host a summit in the Kingdom because of the outcome of the Mecca Accord, which yielded flawed results. Yet he also repeated the assertion that that the Saudis may host a final peace agreement ceremony in Jeddah, should the NRC prove successful. Commenting in general on Saudi executive decision-making style, he added that most MFA and other ministry officials are unaware of the agreements reached by the SAG leadership. ¶10. (C) COMMENT: Although it appears that the Saudis have pledged approximately USD 30 million towards the NRC and offered to host a final peace agreement signing ceremony in the Kingdom, there is still little consensus regarding the details of these commitments. This lack of transparency could be attributed to several factors, particularly bureaucratic and cultural resistance to sharing information. It is not unusual for working-level MFA and other ministry contacts to be unaware of decisions made by the royal family. ¶11. (C) Moreover, since the SAG does not seem to trust the Somali leadership, it may be leery of publicly acknowledging its support. Given the Saudis' clear anger with the Palestinians over the breakdown of the Mecca Accord (ref B) and the political capital expended in brokering this agreement, it is not surprising that they would hedge their bets on the outcome of the NRC. Hence, while they are engaging seemingly disparate parties, like the Ethiopians and the Council of Islamic Courts, who have predicated their participation on the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops, they continue to publicly maintain a policy of non-interference. END COMMENT. GFOELLER