Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ALGIERS1350
2008-12-31 18:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Algiers
Cable title:  

ALGERIAN MFA: DANGEROUS SPLIT BETWEEN REGIMES AND

Tags:  PREL KPAL PTER PHUM MOPS KWBG IS AG 
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VZCZCXRO8147
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHAS #1350/01 3661848
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 311848Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ALGIERS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6796
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT PRIORITY 6608
RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY PRIORITY 1803
RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO PRIORITY 0813
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 2987
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 9149
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ALGIERS 001350 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2018
TAGS: PREL KPAL PTER PHUM MOPS KWBG IS AG
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN MFA: DANGEROUS SPLIT BETWEEN REGIMES AND
STREET OVER GAZA

REF: ALGIERS 1340

Classified By: Ambassador David D. Pearce; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ALGIERS 001350

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2018
TAGS: PREL KPAL PTER PHUM MOPS KWBG IS AG
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN MFA: DANGEROUS SPLIT BETWEEN REGIMES AND
STREET OVER GAZA

REF: ALGIERS 1340

Classified By: Ambassador David D. Pearce; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: MFA Secretary General Madjid Bouguerra
assured the Ambassador on December 31 that Algeria would
continue to play a constructive role in formulating Arab
League reactions to the situation in Gaza, avoiding
inflammatory rhetoric. Bouguerra said that Algerians were
shocked and traumatized by the images coming out of Gaza,
and that Arab public opinion held that only the U.S. could
effectively put an end to the violence. This was a time, he
said, if ever there was one, for the U.S. to use its weight.
According to Bouguerra, Arab public opinion was now
"dangerously split" from Arab leaders, and populations blamed
their regimes for inaction and impotence in the face of the
Israeli actions in Gaza. Managing this opinion, he said, was
the immediate challenge for Algeria and the rest of the Arab
world. Bouguerra said that Algeria had never held any
affection for Hamas, but Hamas had won a democratic election
and it could not be excluded from Palestinian decisionmaking.
This made Palestinian reconciliation essential. With
several hours to go before the conclusion of the Cairo Arab
League Ministerial on Gaza, Bouguerra projected an outcome
that included a call for a cease-fire, removal of the
blockade, and a call for UNSC action. Finally, Bouguerra
expressed Algerian frustration that its initial shipment of
61 tons of food and medical aid for Gaza had only received
clearance from Egypt earlier that same day, after several
days of delays. END SUMMARY.

AMBASSADOR URGES CONSTRUCTIVE ARAB ROLE
--------------


2. (C) The Ambassador told Bouguerra that the U.S. realized
Algeria's voice carried weight in Arab League discussions.
We therefore sought the GOA's help in ensuring a constructive
and non-inflammatory AL ministerial statement. He noted the
need for a cease-fire that would be fully respected, and the
importance of Arab countries using their influence to ensure

that Hamas respected any cease-fire, if one were achieved.
The Ambassador further noted the personal engagement of the
President and the Secretary, their concern about civilian
casualties, and their attention to the humanitarian crisis,
including our USD 85 million contribution to UNWRA. He
added that Israel would doubtless pay close attention to the
tenor of the Arab League statement and this meant it could be
a significant factor in our ability to achieve a genuine
cease-fire. The Ambassador said it would be helpful if the
AL statement endorsed a return to the 2005 Agreement on
Movement and Access, since this would address the
humanitarian issue, and if it also could address the problem
of the passage of contraband, especially weapons, into Gaza.

SHOCKED AND AWED
--------------


3. (C) Bouguerra said graphic images of suffering in Gaza
had been saturating Algerian homes via Arab satellite
channels for days, and had "shocked and traumatized"
Algerians. He called it a situation that "forbids us from
remaining silent" and forces action, which, he said, must
start with the friends of Israel, specifically the U.S.
Bouguerra said Algerians had never seen a situation quite
like this, in which "an enclosed people" were bombed with
little or no option to escape. Arabs, he said, are also
upset at the U.S. because they perceive that the U.S. can
stop the violence but thus far has not. He told the
Ambassador that he had just heard that Israel had rejected an
EU cease-fire initiative driven by French president Nicolas
Sarkozy. He said the Arab League was prepared to push the
Palestinians back on track, but "only if we have the support
of our partners." This was a time, if ever there was one,
for the U.S. to use its weight.

ALGERIA EXPECTS SUMMIT DELAY
--------------


4. (C) Bouguerra, who had spoken to Foreign Minister Mourad
Medelci in Cairo earlier that afternoon, said Algeria would
play a constructive role in the Arab League deliberations,
and understood this was not a moment for inflammatory
rhetoric. He said Arab League foreign ministers were "aware
of the seriousness" of the situation and were ready to help
with pushing a peace effort. Bouguerra said that Medelci had

ALGIERS 00001350 002 OF 003


stopped briefly in Tripoli en route to Cairo, for a meeting
of the five Maghreb foreign ministers, in order to forge a
common position heading into the Cairo ministerial. From his
earlier conversation with Medelci, Bouguerra said he expected
that elements of the Arab League position were likely to
include calls for a cease-fire, an end to the blockade, and
UN Security Council action. Bouguerra speculated that an
actual follow-on full summit of the Arab League would be
delayed slightly, at least by a matter of days, given the
rifts of opinion among member states. Also unfortunate,
Bouguerra said, was that the recent escalation of violence in
Gaza had adversely affected other issues, including the
indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel.


5. (C) Responding to the Ambassador's question about Hamas'
possible motives for breaking the cease-fire, Bouguerra said
he did not know Hamas' intentions, but they had cited the
blockade of Gaza as a primary factor. It was essential, the
MFA secretary general said, for the Palestinian leaderships
in the West Bank and Gaza to be reconciled. Algeria had no
affection for Hamas, but it had won a democratic election and
could not be excluded from Palestinian decisionmaking.
Trying to do so would only make matters worse. And could
Israel destroy Hamas definitively, Bouguerra wondered? "I
think not," he opined.

CRISIS OF PUBLIC OPINION
--------------


6. (C) The most immediate problem for regimes throughout the
Arab world, in Bouguerra's view, was the "very dangerous"
distance that existed between Arab public opinion and Arab
leaders. He explained that Arabs were directing much of
their anger at their leaders for insufficient action and
coordination of policy and response. He said the general
public was frustrated that Arab leaders had not voiced
positions that more accurately reflected their own anger at
Israel, the U.S., and even Egypt for its role in the
blockade. Managing public opinion, Bouguerra told the
Ambassador, was the immediate challenge for Algeria and the
rest of the Arab world.

FRUSTRATION WITH EGYPT
--------------


7. (C) Bouguerra confirmed that Algeria had provided 61 tons
of food and medical supplies to Gaza, but had waited five
days to get clearance from Egyptian authorities to fly the
supplies to the airport at El Arish. He said that the
Algerian public believed that this aid had already been
delivered, but since Egyptian clearance had only come earlier
in the day, Algerian relief flights would be leaving
tomorrow, January 1. The 61 tons were "a beginning," he
said, asserting that Algeria had provided such aid in the
past and would continue to do so in the future. We do not
know Egypt's intentions, he confided, hoping that this would
be clearer "in a few hours" when the Cairo ministerial
wrapped up.

COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) Ambassador repeatedly underscored the seriousness of
the situation, and that the nature of the Arab League
statement and subsequent actions would play a decisive role
in determining what Israeli response followed, including
whether the process would be brought back on track through a
cease-fire respected by all parties. Bouguerra understood
what was at stake, and told the Ambassador that Algeria was
proud to have a reputation for moderation and reason within
the Arab League. He said that the U.S. could count on
Algeria to avoid inflammatory statements and emotional
responses, but he was obviously sobered by what he felt to be
the very dangerous limitations that public opinion was
placing on Arab regimes. It was in this context that he
asked if the Ambassador thought Israel would "really go
through" with a land assault. The Ambassador responded that
he could claim no special insight on this, but based on his
own experience in Jerusalem and the public statements of
Israeli officials, it seemed pretty clear that the key to the
Israelis' next steps lay in whether they concluded that Hamas
had definitively stopped firing rockets or not. That was why
any cease-fire would have to be fully respected, and why Arab
influence on Hamas to respect any such agreement would be so
important.

ALGIERS 00001350 003 OF 003


PEARCE