Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ALGIERS381
2009-04-18 11:47:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Algiers
Cable title:  

FOREIGN MINISTER ON GUANTANAMO, WESTERN SAHARA,

Tags:  PREL PGOV PTER PINR PHUM ICC SU MO AG 
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RUEHNM/AMEMBASSY NIAMEY PRIORITY 1922
RUEHBP/AMEMBASSY BAMAKO PRIORITY 0960
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT PRIORITY 6742
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE PRIORITY 0414
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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0548
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 000381 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR PHUM ICC SU MO AG
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER ON GUANTANAMO, WESTERN SAHARA,
SUDAN

REF: ALGIERS 356

ALGIERS 00000381 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador David D. Pearce; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 000381

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR PHUM ICC SU MO AG
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER ON GUANTANAMO, WESTERN SAHARA,
SUDAN

REF: ALGIERS 356

ALGIERS 00000381 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador David D. Pearce; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: In addition to the peace process (reftel),
Foreign Minister Medelci raised cooperation on Guantanamo
detainees, negotiations on Western Sahara and the ICC arrest
warrant for Sudanese President Bashir during his April 7
meeting with the Ambassador at MFA. Medelci said Algeria
would continue to work with the U.S. to facilitate the return
of Algerian detainees held in Guantanamo. Recalling UNSYG
Personal Envoy Christopher Ross' recent visit to Algeria,
Medelci said Ross' plan to hold informal talks with the
parties before declaring a fifth Manhasset round was a good
idea and that Algeria was ready to assist. He hoped the
international community would adopt a constructive approach
on Western Sahara and urged UNSC members to act as arbiters
and "not lean one way or another" on the issue. Medelci
reiterated the Doha summit's rejection of the ICC arrest
warrant for Sudanese President Bashir. Leaders at Doha were
concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, but could
not accept "an arcane legal approach" to solve a problem they
believed was political, Medelci said. African Union and Arab
League countries, Medelci explained, don't accept the idea
that an outsider can tell a people their elected president is
no good. Moreover, he said, the assembled leaders contrasted
the ICC action against Bashir with the lack of effort to hold
Israel to account for the violence in Gaza. Medelci
reaffirmed interest in a visit by the Secretary and invited
the Ambassador to reconvene after Algeria's presidential
election to review bilateral issues, and discuss a road map
for future cooperation. END SUMMARY.

GTMO COOPERATION EASIER
--------------


2. (C) After Medelci's brief on issues related to the peace
process raised at Doha (reftel),he touched on cooperation

related to Guantanamo detainees, challenges for Western
Sahara, and the Arab summit declaration on Sudanese President
Bashir's ICC arrest warrant. Medelci said his government
better understood U.S. intentions regarding returned Algerian
detainees from Guantanamo, and this had helped recent
coordination on the issue. He asserted that Algeria could
continue to work with the U.S. in the same spirit of
cooperation and vigilance, coordinating efforts through our
countries' respective liaison services. The Ambassador said
the USG valued cooperation with Algeria on counter-terrorism,
including on this issue, as the Secretary had made plain at
Sharm el-Sheikh.

WESTERN SAHARA
--------------


3. (C) Medelci hoped the international community would remain
seized of the challenges facing both parties in the dispute
over Western Sahara. He praised UNSYG Personal Envoy
Christopher Ross as "an excellent choice and an American we
respect." Medelci said he had a productive meeting with Ross
in February and called Ross' meeting with President
Bouteflika during his visit to Algeria "excellent." Medelci
said Ross' plan to hold an informal meeting between the
parties before exploring openings for a fifth round of talks
was a good idea and should permit Ross to prepare a timely
report to UNSYG Ban Ki-Moon. Medelci believed such a meeting
would be a constructive way to consider both parties'
concerns ahead of a fifth Manhasset round.


4. (C) The FM suggested that MINURSO might be used to give
more visibility to the issue. There needed to be
confidence-building measures, he said, to create space for
dialogue. Medelci believed Ross shared the same goal. "We
told him we were ready to assist him. It's a complicated
situation." Medelci hoped the international community would
also take a constructive approach and keep a cool head,
saying "the issue is about decolonization." He commented
pointedly that some UNSC members took positions outside the
Council that contradicted UNSC resolutions. Medelci believed
the Security Council should be an arbiter, and said that "we
need arbiters that don't lean one way or another." He told
the Ambassador that Algeria had made this concern known,
including to the U.S., and hoped the message would be heard.
The Ambassador said the U.S. had confidence in Ross and was
looking forward to his ideas on next steps.

ALGIERS 00000381 002.2 OF 002



ICC ARREST WARRANT A MISTAKE
--------------


5. (C) Returning again to the Doha summit, Medelci said that
human rights were also on the agenda for Africa, and that
members of the African Union (AU) and the Arab League (AL)
were concerned about the humanitarian situation in Darfur.
But leaders at Doha were unanimous in opposing the
International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant for
Sudanese President Bashir. Medelci said the consensus view
in Doha favored giving Sudan an opportunity to resolve the
crisis through reconciliation, a process Medelci said the
Sudanese government was already engaged in. Furthermore,
Medelci underlined, the assembled leaders contrasted the
international community's readiness to endorse a warrant for
a serving Arab head of state with the complete lack of
accountability for Israel's actions in Gaza.


6. (C) In general, Medelci asserted the ICC decision created
more problems than it solved. He said that the arrest
warrant allowed the Sudanese government to close ranks around
its president, which drew attention away from humanitarian
concerns. There was also the problem of conflicting
interpretations of international conventions -- particularly
the Rome Statute and the Vienna Convention -- concerning
immunity for heads of state. At the AU summit in Sharm
el-Sheikh in 2008, Medelci said, African heads of state had
proposed freezing the process related to the Rome Statute and
holding a high-level meeting to clarify these perceived
contradictions, but they never received a response. He added
that no leaders at Doha accepted that someone from outside
could tell a people that their elected
president was no good.


7. (C) Medelci called the ICC issue "a particularly annoying
subject," saying that to give such decisions more credibility
the international community needed to revisit the Rome
Statute and convince more countries to ratify it. He
cautioned that there were no easy solutions, and that
solutions should reflect the reality on the ground.
"Opposition to the ICC warrant was a matter of principle for
many of us," he said. Medelci claimed that to fail to punish
those responsible for the "abominable" aggression in Gaza
while placing Bashir in prison was unrealistic. The issue of
Sudan was political. "In Doha we said 'enough.' We are not
going to enter into an arcane discussion of international law
to resolve a political problem. There needs to be a rational
approach." The Ambassador pointed out the fundamental
concern about the expulsion of NGOs and the need to avoid a
humanitarian crisis. Medelci said that 12 NGOs had been
expelled by Sudan, but the Sudanese government asserted 60
humanitarian organizations remained in Darfur and they were
capable of doing the work the others had done. The Sudanese
told summiteers in Doha that the organizations expelled had
been directly reporting information to the ICC. He said
Khartoum's view was that "they had become political, and
thereby forfeited their NGO status."


8. (C) COMMENT: Foreign Minister Medelci appears to have
grown into his job. He seemed much more relaxed and in
command of his brief than during Ambassador's last meeting
about six months ago. Discussions of both the peace process
(reftel) and Sudan were detailed and presented with
confidence; indeed, his remarks previewed themes that Senator
Mitchell was to hear from President Bouteflika on April 14.
He projected considerable interest in developing bilateral
contacts. At the start of the meeting, he restated his
interest in a visit by the Secretary. At the end, when the
session was cut short by his need to attend an election
event, the FM suggested another meeting after the vote to
develop a roadmap for next steps on bilateral issues.
PEARCE