DEMARCHE DELIVERED: MADAGASCAR HESITANT ON UNESCO

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANTANANARIVO 000847 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/E-MBEYZEROV STATE FOR IO/UNESCO-KSIEKMAN PARIS FOR RKANEDA LONDON FOR PLORD E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2018 TAGS: PREL UNESCO MA SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: MADAGASCAR HESITANT ON UNESCO DG REF: 08 STATE 130915 Classified By: AMBASSADOR NIELS MARQUARDT FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D. ¶1. (C) On December 17, EmbOff delivered reftel demarche to Acting Director of Multilateral Cooperation Harifera Rabemananjara. She reported that the GOM had received a request to support the Egyptian candidate, Farouk Hosni, as well as a Moroccan candidate (NOTE: Press reports indicate that the Moroccan candidate, Aziza Bennani, was withdrawn in September, although Rabemananjara was apparently unaware of this fact. END NOTE). Having already looked into the candidate prior to this demarche, Rabemananjara was aware of Hosni's anti-Semitic positions, but expressed her appreciation for the more detailed information provided in our points on his background. She stated that the GOM has not yet made any decision on the subject, and expressed willingness to delay the decision pending any new candidates. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: While Rabemananjara did express dismay that Egypt had not proposed "a better candidate", it is not a given that the GOM will consider Hosni's faults over their bilateral relationships with the country. With the African Union summit coming to Antananarivo in June 2009, Madagascar would be unlikely to openly oppose the initiative of a fellow AU member and donor to their summit efforts. END COMMENT. MARQUARDT