FM FASSI FIHRI REPORTS THE ARAB LEAGUE MINISTERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 000235

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C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED TEXT TO ALL PARAGRAPHS)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2018
TAGS: PREL AL LE MO
SUBJECT: FM FASSI FIHRI REPORTS THE ARAB LEAGUE MINISTERS
SPLIT ON LEBANON

Classified By: Ambassador Thomas T. Riley for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: During a March 7 meeting with visiting
Ambassador Swing, otherwise devoted to thanking Morocco for
its support in his quest to lead the International Organisation for
Migration (IOM),Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri shared some
impressions of the Cairo Arab League Ministerial, whence he had just
returned. The Foreign Minister noted that the Arab ministers couldn't
agree on anything except that they should continue to try to
reach some agreement before the planned Damascus summit at
the end of the month. He had never seen so divided the
Saudis and the Syrians (who showed the influence of the
Iranian hand). Absent agreement, he expected that the
members would attend the summit, but not at a high level.
End Summary.


2. (C) Ambassador William Swing, accompanied by PolCouns,
called on Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri on
March 7 to thank him for the GOM commitment, received earlier
in the week to support Swing's candidacy to lead the IOM. The
meeting, arranged at the last minute also included Secretary
General Omar Hilale and the FM's Chief of Staff Nasser
Bourita. In addition to discussing IOM and its future,
Swing, recently departed head of the UN Mission to the Congo,
appreciated the significant contribution Moroccan troops had
made to UN peacekeeping in the DRC.


3. (C) Discussion then moved to the Arab League and the Cairo
Ministerial. The Minister said the Ministerial was split with
Syria having the backing of Algeria and Qatar. Kuwait and
Bahrain seemed to waiver, showing the effects of the Iranian
hand, which was even more evident with Syria's case. Morocco
was on the other side with Saudi Arabia and Egypt. At bottom,
the GOM believes a sensible solution to the Lebanon crisis
would be a phased approach: First vote in a president;
second, empower the president to form a coalition national
unity government; third, with the government in place, amend
the election laws to avoid future crises. It is only a
sitting President who can arrange credible guarantees for
Lebanon's insecure Christian and Shi'a minorities. Morocco
had proposed this phasing, he said. In contrast, the Syrians
wanted a package that would lay out all the elements of the
coalition government and future arrangements before they
would agree to a president. Fassi Fihri did not think that
was practical.


4. (C) Fassi Fihri said a successful Arab League summit now
looked unlikely, but the Arab states will continue to try to
find a workable compromise. He was certain the Saudis would
not attend at any serious level. He had never seen the
Saudis and the Syrians so divided. The Saudis and the Moroccans
were upset about the Syrian invitation to Ahmedinejad. What
place did he have at an Arab League summit? The Minister said King
Mohammed VI in any case would not attend the summit,
(swearing us to secrecy on this),but adding that the actual level of
attendance would depend on ongoing negotiations. He remained
interested in U.S. views. PolCouns noted that we generally
shared the GOM's unhappiness, and did not see now see how a
summit level meeting could be productive under current
circumstances. Fassi Fihri said he would welcome being
updated on our thinking, including by phone. He planned to
spend the week of March 10 in Dakar at the Organisation of the
Islamic Conference (OIC) ministerial prepcom and summit.


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