ETHIOPIA: ARAB LEAGUE AMBASSADORS RECOMMEND

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 000598 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E, AF/RSA, NEA/RA LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER CJTF-HOA AND USCENTCOM FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2018 TAGS: PREL ET SO XF SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: ARAB LEAGUE AMBASSADORS RECOMMEND CONSULTATION BEFORE ACTION Classified By: Amb. Donald Yamamoto. Reason: 1.4 (B). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. On February 12, Ambassador Yamamoto held a lunch for the resident ambassadors to Ethiopia from Arab League countries. In attendance were the ambassadors from Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Sudan, and the Arab League representative to the African Union. The Arab ambassadors underscored that Washington should consult more with regional partners to obtain better policy results. They emphasized that there was a role for the Arab League on Somalia. The Arab ambassadors questioned the role of AFRICOM and said they did not understand its function. Lastly, they encouraged Washington to help Ethiopia transform its telecommunication and banking sectors. This is the first time this mission has reached out to the Arab League and this will be a point of regular meetings. END SUMMARY. -------------- "CONSULT WITH REGIONAL PARTNERS FIRST" -------------- ¶2. (C) The Arab ambassadors presented a strong message that Washington should consult more before taking action. The Egyptian ambassador said that the United States "should not go it alone" and that the U.S. should consult with regional partners who may have influence on a particular issue. The Sudanese ambassador said that dialogue would gain a better output. He added that September 11 changed U.S. policy for the worse and put the entire international arena at risk. All the Arab ambassadors agreed that Washington was too focused on terrorism and that this focus was damaging U.S. relations with the Arab world. -------------- "SOMALIA IS AN ARAB LEAGUE MEMBER" -------------- ¶3. (C) The Yemeni ambassador emphasized that more consultation, particularly on the issue of Somalia, would be more productive. Another ambassador noted that Somalia was a member of the Arab League, and the Egyptian ambassador suggested that the Arab League was being deliberately excluded from the Somalia reconciliation process by Washington. The Arab ambassadors were in general agreement that Ethiopia should withdraw from Somalia and that some type of Arab/UN peacekeeping force should be deployed. Ambassador Yamamoto replied that the Arab League had a critical part to play in Somalia, particularly through Saudi Arabia and Yemen. -------------- "WHY DO YOU NEED AFRICOM?" -------------- ¶4. (C) The Arab ambassadors all agreed that they did not understand the need for AFRICOM and said that they did not understand its purpose. The Tunisian Ambassador complained that his government had recently been briefed by AFRICOM officials and that the briefing had left his government even more confused about the new command's objectives than before. Another ambassador, referencing AFRICOM's role in humanitarian assistance and development, asked, "why use the military when you have USAID?" In response, Ambassador Yamamoto noted that AFRICOM would streamline the U.S. military's engagement in Africa and offered to hold a formal briefing exclusively for them the next time a senior AFRICOM official visited Addis Ababa. -------------- MELES, MENGISTU, AND CELL PHONES -------------- ¶5. (C) Lastly on a lighter note, the Arab ambassadors complained that the banking and telecommunications infrastructure in Ethiopia was woefully inadequate and suggested Washington might help transform these sectors. The Yemeni ambassador noted he could not send a fax to Sanaa and several other ambassadors noted the terrible cell phone service in Ethiopia. Ambassador Yamamoto responded that he was doing all he could but that the Marxist tendencies of the government was making progress difficult. Closing out the meeting, the Arab League representative repeated the well known joke that when the Tigrean People's Liberation Front (TPLF) captured towns from Mengistu's forces during the revolution they would take down the pictures of Marx, Engels and Lenin, and replace them with even larger ones. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) This is the Embassy's first initiative to reach out to the Arab League ambassadors and this will be part of regular meetings given their interest in Somalia. Furthermore, this follows our continued series of meetings with various Muslim clerics to gain their views on the U.S. role in Ethiopia. END COMMENT. YAMAMOTO