RESULTS OF ARAB LEAGUE FACT-FINDING MISSION ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 001761

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, AF/E (SKORUPSKI)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2018
TAGS: PREL DJ ER EG
SUBJECT: RESULTS OF ARAB LEAGUE FACT-FINDING MISSION ON
DJIBOUTI-ERITREA BORDER

Classified By: Classified by Acting Minister Counselor for Economic and
Political Affairs Yael Lempert for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Arab League African Affairs Director Samir
Hosni led an Arab League fact-finding mission to the
Djibouti-Eritrea border on May 9-11. Members of the group
met with Djiboutian officials, but Eritrean officials refused
to meet with them. The committee found that Eritrean troops
were occupying Djiboutian territory in the Ras
Doumeira/Doumeira Island area. However, in subsequent
conversations, Eritrean officials denied that Eritrean troops
had crossed the Djibouti border. The committee's yet
unpublished report recommends the two sides withdraw from the
area, enter into negotiations to draw and demarcate the
border, and states that the Arab Peace and Security Council
reserves the right to intervene in order to peacefully
resolve the crisis. Although both Djibouti and Eritrea are
associated with the Arab League, Eritrea,s refusal to meet
with the fact-finding mission signals that the Arab League
likely will not have a large role to play in resolving the
dispute. End Summary


2. (C) On July 30, Arab League African Affairs Director Samir
Hosni briefed us on the results of the Arab League,s May
9-11 fact-finding mission to the Djibouti/Eritrea border.
Hosni said that the fact finding committee found that
Eritrean troops were occupying Djiboutian territory in Ras
Doumeira and Doumeira Island, but said that in his subsequent
conversations with Eritrean officials they denied that
Eritrean troops had crossed the Djibouti border. Hosni
passed us an Arabic-language copy of the fact finding report,
which he said had not yet been disseminated to Arab League
member states.


3. (SBU) According to an unofficial EMBASSY translation of
the report, the committee met with Djiboutian officials
including President Gela and Foreign Minister Youssef. The
committee,s investigation revealed that the eastern part of
the Djibouti-Eritrean border is unmarked, and armed forces in
the region are unsure of the location of the official border
line. The committee expressed concern that Eritrean forces
had built military installations and support
structures-including roads, trenches, and armed outposts-in
Ras Doumeira, which Djiboutian officials confirm is inside
the Djibouti border.


4. (SBU) The committee recommended that the two sides enter
negotiations to complete the process of drawing the border,
and put land marks and signs on the border, as was done with
the western part of the Djibouti-Eritrea border.
Additionally, the committee advised that both sides withdraw
from the Ras Doumeira area until the borders are drawn and
marked. In the event that no agreement can be reached, the
committee advocated for arbitration and wrote that the Arab
Peace and Security Council reserved the right to intervene to
convince both sides to peacefully resolve the issue.


5. (C) Comment: Although Djibouti is an Arab League member
and Eritrea has Arab League observer status, there is
probably little that the Arab League can realistically do to
resolve the border dispute. Arab League leadership has its
hands full with issues Lebanon and Sudan, and Eritrean
officials, refusal to meet with the fact-finding committee
underscores their lack of deference toward the Arab League as
a possible mediator in the dispute.
SCOBEY