EEBC: ITALY IN AGREEMENT WITH U.S. ON APPROACH

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 002339 SIPDIS SIPDIS IO/UNP J FITZGERALD AF/E W SCHOFIELD E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2017 TAGS: UNSC PREL ET ER IT SUBJECT: EEBC: ITALY IN AGREEMENT WITH U.S. ON APPROACH TOWARD NOVEMBER 30 DEADLINE REF: SECSTATE 153831 Classified By: A/Pol M/C Jonathan Cohen, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to MFA East Africa Office Director Fabrizio Pignatelli November 15. Poloff sought Italian agreement on a unified approach to avoid pressure on Ethiopia and Eritrea to implement the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) "virtual demarcation" of the border by map coordinates. Pignatelli agreed enthusiastically with our points. He said Italy fully supports UN Under Secretary General Lynn Pascoe's attempts to mediate the conflict, saying it was our best chance for lowering tensions and resolving the disputes between the parties. ¶2. (C) Pignatelli said he thought the conflict now boiled down to a question of face saving for both sides. Given Eritrea's declaration in September that it would begin to remove its military forces from the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) as soon as demarcation begins, Pignatelli saw some room for hope, if enough trust could be restored to allow simultaneous commencement of demarcation on the ground and the removal of Eritrean troops from the TSZ. To supervise such a coordinated, simultaneous action, Pignatelli thought it might be possible to extend the mandate of the EEBC with the consent of both parties. SPOGLI