BILDT ON POST-ANNAPOLIS PROCESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L STOCKHOLM 001454 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV IS IR KPAL SUBJECT: BILDT ON POST-ANNAPOLIS PROCESS Classified By: Ambassador Wood for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) In a December 11 meeting with the Ambassador, Foreign Minister Bildt said: -- Annapolis went better than Europeans expected. America had an opportunity but faced suspicion in taking on the role of honest broker. -- The regional context to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict affected the options. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Mekdad, who sat next to Bildt at Annapolis, was more flexible in private than in his public interventions. -- The Annapolis process should be limited to follow-on meetings in Paris, Moscow, with a return to Annapolis by fall ¶2008. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Foreign Minister Bildt told the Ambassador December 11 that the general European view was that the Annapolis conference went better than expected. Secretary Rice's speech had been a highlight; her personal focus on exclusion in her childhood had deeply affected Palestinian and other Muslim representatives. Bildt said the U.S. was now called upon to be an honest broker. Bildt said he had been at the IISS Regional Security Summit in Bahrain, and there was suspicion about whether the U.S. could effectively take the honest broker role. ¶3. (C) Bildt said part of the failure of the Camp David process in the year 2000 was the lack of Middle Eastern regime support. This demonstrated that the solution must be broader and more inclusive than the Israeli-Palestinian core. Syria could be a spoiler. Bildt said had he been seated next to Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad at Annapolis events. Bildt noted although Mekdad's formal speech had been hard-line, his off-line conversation was different. In private conversation with Bildt, Mekdad had been nuanced about HAMAS and had "practically accepted" the two-state solution, based on the 1967 borders, with adjustments. ¶4. (C) Bildt said is was clear at the Bahrain gathering that the shadow of Iran also affected the Palestinian/Israeli solution. A peace deal with the Palestinians reduced the margins for Iran, and vice-versa. ¶5. (C) Bildt said that although several countries had volunteered to host post-Annapolis, making the offers as part of a "beauty contest," in his view only Paris and Moscow would be useful. Then the venue should return to Annapolis, by summer or fall of 2008. ¶6. (C) Comment: Sweden appears to be gearing up with plans for substantial new aid to the Palestinians. Bildt told the Ambassador that Sweden was the largest European donor to the Palestinians. He said he was meeting with Development Assistance Minister Gunilla Carlsson and a group of MFA and Swedish International Development Agency officials immediately following the Ambassador's meeting to discuss assistance to the Palestinians. MFA officials have told us that Sweden's assistance to the Palestians, totalling 107 million USD in 2007, will be substantially increased in 2008. Separately, Justice Ministry DG Nils Oberg told the DCM that the Justice Ministry is seeking aid funds to restart rule of law training for the Palestinians, and Palestinian Security Police training. Both programs had been active in the 1990's, but had been suspended by the 2000 intifada. WOOD