MFA WARNS DESK OFFICER TO AVOID USG

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASMARA 000166 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/E AND DRL LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV ER SUBJECT: MFA WARNS DESK OFFICER TO AVOID USG Classified By: CDA Melinda Tabler-Stone for reason 1.4(d). ¶1. (C) The Eritrean government (GSE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has recently warned its Desk Officer responsible for the Americas to not contact the U.S. Embassy, according to a close Embassy source. The Desk Officer was told "the relationship between the U.S. and Eritrea is not good," and that it would be wise for him to avoid contact with the Embassy. The Desk Officer recently returned to Asmara after a two-month hiatus of teaching political education to students at Sawa, the military training camp that takes the place of students' last year of high school. He told the Embassy source that conditions in Sawa are poor and morale is so low that instructors are fleeing. He knew of two instructors who had escaped from Sawa into Sudan and one who was shot and killed while trying to escape. According to the Embassy contact, the Desk Officer returned to Asmara noticeably thinner. TABLER-STONE