SOMALIA - INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE CANDIDATE

UNCLAS NAIROBI 002468

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE PASS TO L/UNA TODD BUCHWALD AND HEATHER SCHILDGE
STATE ALSO FOR AF/E/GAREY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: UNSC UNGA SO
SUBJECT: SOMALIA - INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE CANDIDATE

REF: SECSTATE 112227


1. As requested reftel, we asked our contacts about
Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, candidate for the International Court
of Justice. Yusuf, a lawyer, left Somalia in the 1960s. He
joined the UN and reportedly worked for many years in the
United States. He is now retired, but has continued to work
as a legal advisor to several African governments and
international organizations, including UNESCO, we are told.
Abdulqawi Yusuf has wanted a position on the international
court at least since 2007, when he asked Somalia's
Transitional Federal Government (TFG) President Abdullahi
Yusuf and current Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein for their
support. Yusuf, though reportedly not a direct relative of
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, is from the president's
same clan, and may be related to the president by marriage.


2. A former member of President Yusuf's staff told us Somali
government leaders hold Abdulqawi Yusuf in high regard and
have lobbied for Abdulqawi Yusuf's various international
postings in the past. TFG leaders generally support the
United States' regional and even international policy
positions. However, we don't have specific information about
Abdulqawi Yusuf's views on reftel's positions important to
the United States. Our contacts speculate his reportedly
pan-Somali bent, clan affiliation (Daarood/Warsengeli),and
roots in northern Somalia, where regional clashes have
occurred and Somali secessionist movements exist, may make
Abdulqawi Yusuf sympathetic to sovereignty claims and less
likely to support autonomy movements.
RANNEBERGER