POST-JUNE 9 COMMENTS ON DJIBOUTI PEACE AGREEMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L DJIBOUTI 000528

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/EX
CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2013
TAGS: PREL PGOV AU ER SO DJ
SUBJECT: POST-JUNE 9 COMMENTS ON DJIBOUTI PEACE AGREEMENT

REF: NAIROBI 1455

Classified By: Chargee d'Affaires Kathleen List for reasons 1.4 b,d.


1. (U) The walls surrounding the Palestinian Embassy in
Djibouti city are festooned with photographs of Yasser
Arafat, as are the interior hallways of the Embassy, where
CDA and Conoff paid a courtesy call on the Palestinian
Ambassador to Djibouti, Kamel Abdallah Gazzaz, June 16 at his
request. The Ambassador is Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in
Djibouti and has been in country for six years. He worked in
Somalia from 1985-1994 in Mogadishu, and after the Oslo
Accord of 1994, worked in his country,s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in the Africa Department, specializing in issues
concerning the Horn of Africa. At the beginning of July he
will be accredited to the Comoros, still resident in
Djibouti. He has three children, the youngest of whom is 13
years old. He will be leaving soon for summer break in
Ramallah, but his wife,s family is in Hebron, the West Bank.
In the early 1990s, the Ambassador stated that the
Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) decided to close
twenty of its Embassies world-wide for financial reasons, but
maintained Embassies in Muslim countries such as the Sudan,
Yeman, Oman, and Mauritania. They currently have 85
Embassies operating.


2. (C) The Ambassador claims to know the Somali people
well and knows, based on his engagements with both parties
during the Junre 9-concluded Djibouti peace talks, that the
Somalis now sincerely want peace. He said some of the
tensions between the Darod and Hawiye date back to Siad Barre
time. When Barre was deposed, outsiders came into Mogadishu
and took over properties belonging to members of Barre,s
ruling party. How does current leadership now resolve these
ownership problems, he asked, a problem of an offense by one
clan to another that needs reparation of some kind. More
current preoccupations, however, involve the 6 million
Somalis in the diaspora -- what role they will play -- and
what role are they currently playing -- university
professors, journalists, writers, etc. in bringing peace to
Somalia.


3. (C) The United Nations has 120 days from the signing of
the peace accord to authorize and deploy an international
stabilization force, during which period the Ethiopian
Government will withdraw its troops from Somalia (based on
the successful deployment of UN troops). Abdallah said the
peace accord will not stand if the US does not support it by
providing food supplies immediately (the US already provides
quite massive amounts of food and non-food items through the
World Food Program and numerous Non-Governmental
Organizations) and helping to organize other nations to pay
for the disarmament of Somalis (our understanding of any
PeaceKeeping Operations likely to be authorized by the UN
Security Council would probably not be tasked to collect
arms). If the tribes see that the US supports the peace
process, they will impose order on their people and insist
the weapons be turned over to the UN forces. Abdallah
appealed to the US to announce its continued help to the
Somali people in the peace process (we did so in our press
guidance after the signing of the Djibouti agreement, which
clearly indicated our continuing support for the Agreement).
Once the Middle East is sure the US supports the process,
&all Gulf countries will invest in Somalia,8 rebuilding the
infrastructure destroyed by eighteen years of war. He stated
three more times that the peace process depends on the public
and continued involvement of the US Government.


4. (C ) In a brief meeting with Saudi Ambassador Abdoulaziz
Ben Mohamed Al-Aifan, he told CDA Saudi Arabia looks forward
to working with the USG to help reconstruct Somalia. He said
"there is a chance now -- there are some difficulties, of
course -- but there is a real chance now for peace."


5. (U) This cable was cleared by Ambassador John Yates.

LIST