SCENESETTER: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN DJIBOUTI

C O N F I D E N T I A L DJIBOUTI 000937

SIPDIS

FOR AFRICOM COMMANDER GENERAL WARD
AFRICOM AND CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2018
TAGS: PREL MASS DJ SO ER
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN DJIBOUTI

REF: DJIBOUTI 764

Classified By: ERIC WONG, DCM. REASON: 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY. Post warmly welcomes the visit of General
Ward. Since your last visit in September 2008, Djibouti
continues efforts in international fora to condemn Eritrea
for its June 2008 border incursion. At the same time,
Djibouti continues to play a significant role hosting and
supporting UN-led peace talks on Somalia, despite recent
terrorist attacks in neighboring Somaliland. A key partner
of the United States (reftel),Djibouti warmly welcomed the
establishment of AFRICOM, and looks forward to inaugurating a
USG-funded naval pier in early 2009. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Djiboutian senior principals' focus on two of its
primary security concerns remains unchanged: externally,
Eritrea's ongoing occupation of contested territory at Ras
Doumeira, following the outbreak of hostilities in June 2008;
and internally, food insecurity affecting more than one-third
of Djibouti's population, largely resulting from drought and
reliance on nomadic agriculture. However, the October 29
terrorist bombings in both Hargeisa and Bossaso (in
Somaliland and Puntland, respectively) also highlighted the
threat that instability in neighboring Somalia poses to
Djibouti. Targets attacked in Hargeisa, Somaliland, included
the presidential palace, United Nations offices, and
Ethiopia's diplomatic mission. As a predominantly ethnic
Somali society with strong cultural and political ties to
Somalia, Djibouti was shaken by these attacks in areas that
had been relatively stable, and has raised its internal
security posture.

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CONTINUED TENSIONS WITH ERITREA
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3. (C) President Ismail Omar Guelleh addressed the UN
Security Council on October 23 regarding continued tensions
with Eritrea. He underscored that inaction by the
international community would leave Djibouti only "the option
of war." Djiboutian officials continue to seek a diplomatic
solution to the crisis, however. Foreign Minister Mahmoud
Ali Youssouf traveled recently to Tehran, in an attempt to
determine whether Iranian influence could be brought to bear
on Asmara. Djibouti seeks the imposition by the
international community of sanctions against Eritrea, and is
currently working with UN agencies to resettle more than 70
defector/deserters from Eritrea who have sought refuge in
Djibouti.

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ENGAGED AS HOST OF SOMALI PEACE TALKS
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4. (C) Djibouti continues to play a significant role as host
and supporter of UN-led Somali peace talks between Somalia's
Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Alliance for the
Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) moderates led by Sheikh Sharif
Sheikh Ahmed. The latest round of talks in the "Djibouti
Process" are scheduled to begin o/a November 23, with Somali
representatives expected to discuss modalities for the
formation of a government of national unity, in the wake of
Ethiopia's commitment to withdraw troops from key areas in
Mogadishu, and an agreement on a cease-fire.

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STRATEGIC PARTNER OF THE U.S.
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5. (U) President Guelleh visited the United States in October
2008, after participating in the Francophone summit in
Canada. As the host of Camp Lemonier, the only U.S. military
base in sub-Saharan Africa, Djibouti warmly welcomed the
establishment of AFRICOM, and has offered to host additional
facilities. With USG funding, construction was recently
completed at the new naval pier at Obock, one of the largest
FMF projects in Africa. The inauguration of the Obock pier,
expected in January 2009, will coincide with the opening of a
new $300 million commercial port facility at Doraleh and will
underscore USG efforts to enhance Djibouti's maritime
security. In November 2008, Djibouti also agreed to a
memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of
Energy's National Nuclear Safety Administration, to install a
$6 million "Megaports" sensor system at Doraleh port to
detect nuclear materials being transshipped.
SWAN