PRIME MINISTER MELES ON PILLARS OF THE BILATERAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 001241

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON EAID ET SO
SUBJECT: PRIME MINISTER MELES ON PILLARS OF THE BILATERAL
RELATIONSHIP

Classified By: Ambassador Donald Yamamoto for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).

SUMMARY
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1. (C) Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, in a follow-up
to a meeting with Ambassador Susan Rice May 16 (septel),
underscored to the Ambassador during a private meeting on May
22, the importance of security cooperation, economic
development, and governance as pillars in our relationship
requiring closer dialogue to bring greater clarity to the
relationship. On security cooperation, Meles stressed the
need to understand how U.S. policy will unfold in dealing
with Somalia, Somalia's Transitional Federal Government
(TFG),the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM),and
possible post-TFG dynamics. He said regional leaders want to
avoid the events of 2005 and 2006 when U.S. support for
warlords against the Islamic Courts Union undercut efforts by
the African Union and regional states. On economic
development, Meles said greater discussion is required on how
to combat poverty. He differed, Meles added, with Prime
Minister Gordon Brown's call for a &new consensus8 on
development. Finally, on governance, Meles urged for a
deeper and more frank bilateral discussion on governance and
human rights to enhance understanding on issues which he said
were dividing the relationship. End Summary.

SECURITY COOPERATION
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2. (C) During a private meeting May 22, Prime Minister Meles
expounded on the points he discussed with Ambassador Susan
Rice last week. The PM focused on three critical "pillars"
of the bilateral relationship requiring closer dialogue to
bring greater clarity of understanding and resolution of
potential problems. The U.S. and Ethiopia have a common
perspective and shared interests on security cooperation in
the region. But the Prime Minister noted that he and his
government look to forward to a greater understanding of U.S.
policy, especially towards Somalia. He raised the problems
in 2005 and 2006 when the U.S. -- without consulting Kenya,
Ethiopia, Djibouti and the African Union -- unilaterally
funneled funds to dubious warlords fighting the emerging
Islamic Courts Union. Meles said the regional leaders would
have welcomed private discussions with the U.S. on the policy
it was pursuing in Somalia. Meles did not criticize the U.S.
approach, rather he emphasized that a serious and focused
dialogue would have allowed regional leaders an opportunity
to adjust their approaches, coordinate better with the U.S.
and, more importantly, make clear to the U.S. their concerns
about the consequences of the U.S. policy towards the
warlords.


3. (C) Meles said that now it was urgent to have a closer
dialogue and understanding of U.S. policy on dealing with the
TFG. Meles said he and other leaders want to understand
current U.S. policy on Somalia, what changes the U.S. is
making to address the current problems, and scenarios for a
Somalia with and without the TFG, with and without
al-Shabaab, and approaches to various groups like Alhu Sunna
Wal Jama'a (ASWJ).


4. (C) Meles emphasized to the Ambassador that Ethiopia has
made it a point to "carry its own weight" in the pursuit of
common security goals. He added that Ethiopia does not seek
to "make a buck" out of the relationship by supporting U.S.
programs, but rather that Ethiopia agrees to support the U.S.
out of shared values and interests. But in this context, the
Prime Minister wanted U.S. understanding and support for
issues of concern to Ethiopia, specifically positions on
domestic insurgent groups such as the Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF) and Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). If
it is the policy of the U.S. to support these two insurgent
groups then there should be a dialogue to make clear the
position of both sides, Meles argued. At the end of the day,
if there are fundamental differences, at least the Ethiopian
side will understand the reasons for U.S. policy towards
these two insurgent groups. Meles claimed that the current
situation is generating mistrust, because the Ethiopian
military, for instance, believes the U.S. military seeks
clandestine contacts with the ONLF for its own force
protection and perhaps other "unknown" reasons. There should
be "transparent engagement" on all issues to clearly lay out
what the U.S. expects of Ethiopia and what each country seeks

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to achieve in its respective policy pursuits.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
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5. (C) Meles noted that during the April G-20 summit in
London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke of the need for a
"new consensus" on development to replace the "Washington
consensus." Meles said that, rather than a consensus,
pragmatism was required. Meles echoed the arguments he made
on behalf of the African countries at the G-20 summit that
economic performance should factor more into the distribution
of assistance. This more pragmatic approach will help reward
those countries pursuing successful sustainable development
and good development performance policies.


6. (C) Part of good economic performance is efficiency, and
NGOs are by nature inefficient, Meles argued. The Prime
Minister said that USAID has the only bilateral aid agreement
with Ethiopia that allows for NGOs to operate in-country.
Agreements with the U.K.'s DFID and other countries do not
allow for NGO operations. Meles said he understands that the
delivery mechanism for U.S. aid must go through NGOs. But
this has become more "ideological" than practical in the U.S.
Many NGOs are inefficient, too expensive, and USAID can
deliver the assistance more effectively and faster if it
works directly with government entities, cutting out NGOs,
Meles argued.

GOVERNANCE
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7. (C) Meles said his government is very unhappy over
Ethiopia's treatment on human rights issues. The Congress
and the State Department's Human Rights Report have been
sympathetic to the U.S.-based Ethiopian diaspora and its
highly vocal anti-Ethiopian government rhetoric, the Prime
Minister argued. Referring to the U.S. Congress and State
Department Human Rights report interchangeably, Meles said
Ethiopia is committed to democracy and he accepts that
Ethiopia must be held accountable to democratic values. He
added that he wants a closer dialogue with the U.S. to allow
Ethiopia to separately -- or jointly with the U.S. --
investigate charges of human rights abuse. If found to be
true, Ethiopia should be criticized. He stressed that such
problems would be corrected and this required a cooperative
relationship to work together to investigate, address issues,
and correct problems. Meles added that there are problems
and his government has addressed such issues and continues to
investigate. He expressed appreciation for recent
discussions between Embassy and Foreign Ministry on
modalities to more credibly pursue claims of human rights
abuses, and urged a more comprehensive and detailed dialogue
on the subject. Meles concluded by saying that Ethiopia's
frustration comes from differing treatment by the U.S.
towards Ethiopia and Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi
Arabia or Egypt. Ethiopia asks that treatment of all
countries, partners or not, be on the same level under the
same criteria.

COMMENT
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8. (C) The Ambassador has spoken at great length with Foreign
Minister Seyoum and Communications Minister BEREKET Simon --
the architect behind the media attacks on the State
Department Human Rights report -- on the process for drafting
the report and also the need for greater transparency and
understanding from the Ethiopian side to verify information,
which is extremely difficult given Ethiopia's closed society.
But it is clear from our discussions that the problem is not
our human rights report, it is Ethiopia's anxiety over the
relationship. Ethiopian had not responded to our annual
report until now. The Prime Minister's call for "closer
dialogue" and "improved understanding" stems from their
feeling that the U.S. will somehow change its policy towards
Ethiopia. The Prime Minister's lengthy meeting with
Ambassador Susan Rice and the prospects for senior bilateral
meetings have helped meet the Ethiopians' need for clarity
from the U.S. on the relationship. But, follow-up on any
senior bilateral level meeting will be essential and be
dependent on a very consistent message with full interagency
support on our core issues on security, development, and
governance. End Comment.

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YAMAMOTO