ALGERIA: PROSPECTS FOR REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT ON IRAQ

S E C R E T ALGIERS 000476

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/RA - JYAPHE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL AG
SUBJECT: ALGERIA: PROSPECTS FOR REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT ON IRAQ

REF: STATE 48144

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


1. (S) In response to reftel, Algeria has been reluctant to
re-engage fully with Iraq ever since two of its diplomats
were killed there in 2005. We have found that until
recently, the Algerians lacked direct and reliable sources of
information on political and security developments in Iraq,
often receiving this information from us. Algeria can be
relied upon to align itself with Arab League positions on a
wide variety of regional issues, including support for Iraq.
As a respected and highly credible voice in the Arab League,
Algeria is a critical lever for influence in the Arab world,
capable of swaying others.


2. (S) Throughout the past two years, we have lobbied Algeria
repeatedly at high levels within the MFA, with other
ministries and with the security forces to support Iraq by
reopening an Embassy in Baghdad, particularly to bolster
Sunni Arab efforts within Iraq and not abandon the Iraqi
playing field entirely to Iran. This argument seems to have
gained currency with time. Algerian Ambassador Baali in
Washington has expressed support for this view, and recently
we were told that the decision has been taken to reopen an
Embassy in principle, though we have not yet heard a specific
timeline. Until the Algerians feel they have received more
complete information on the Algerian diplomats who were
killed, they will be in no hurry to rush back to Baghdad.
This view was emphatically re-stated to Ambassador in recent
months by senior MFA and security officials.


3. (S) As head of OPEC throughout 2008, Algeria already
participates actively in one energy working group with Iraq.
On the political side, Algeria reliably aligns its regional
stance with Arab League positions, even using the AL to
channel financial assistance to the Palestinians in the West
Bank and Gaza. Algerian non-governmental and civil society
contact with Iraq is extremely limited at best; we do not
know of Algerian NGOs who have actively participated in
projects in Iraq. Journalists who have visited Iraq are also
a rarity. By contrast, Algerian governmental, media and
civil society contact with Syria is robust, making Algeria an
effective channel for communication with the Syrian regime,
as well as with Hamas.


4. (S) Ambassador most recently raised the normalization
issue May 16 with Cherif Rahmani, Algeria's Minister of Urban
Development, Environment and Tourism, who also chairs the
Council of Arab Ministers of the Environment. Rahmani - an
influential minister in the Bouteflika government - agreed
with the Ambassador on the need to reintegrate Iraq and
bolster its Arab ties, and said he always accorded prominent
attention to his Iraqi colleagues at council meetings. He
added, however, that a full accounting of the 2005 Algerian
diplomat deaths remained an important issue.


5. (S) Given Algeria's continued skittishness to re-engage
directly in Iraq, the most effective vectors for engagement
within Algeria are within the Directorate of Arab Affairs at
the MFA, the MFA liaison to the Arab League, the military
intelligence services, and the political parties of the
ruling coalition, all of whom have contacts with counterparts
in the countries surrounding Iraq, if not within Iraq itself
in the context of regional meetings and liaison. Algeria
would be wary of cooperation on Iraq that involved Iran,
though this would not necessarily be a deal-breaker, but any
cooperation involving Israel would be a likely non-starter
absent an Arab League imprimatur.
PEARCE