Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ATHENS228
2009-02-20 13:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Athens
Cable title:
MAURITANIA: GREECE AGREES "100 PERCENT" WITH U.S.
how-toVZCZCXRO8026 OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBZ RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHDU RUEHFL RUEHGI RUEHIK RUEHJO RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHNP RUEHPA RUEHPOD RUEHRN RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHTRO RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHTH #0228 0511339 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 201339Z FEB 09 ZDK FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3255 INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
UNCLAS ATHENS 000228
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL GR EUN MR
SUBJECT: MAURITANIA: GREECE AGREES "100 PERCENT" WITH U.S.
POSITION
REF: SECSTATE 13962
UNCLAS ATHENS 000228
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL GR EUN MR
SUBJECT: MAURITANIA: GREECE AGREES "100 PERCENT" WITH U.S.
POSITION
REF: SECSTATE 13962
1. (SBU) DepPolCouns delivered reftel demarche on EU policy
toward Mauritania to MFA A9 Africa Directorate deputy head
Taxiarchis Christopoulos. Christopoulos said Greek diplomats
from Brussels would attend the February 20 EU meeting in
Paris. He also said that Mauritania was a regular topic of
discussion in the EU and had been discussed as recently as
February 18 at the working level.
2. (SBU) Christopoulos said Greece agreed "100 percent" with
the U.S. position on Mauritania and stressed the importance
of the return of democracy to the African country. He said
the coup by General Aziz was a "pity," noting that the
democratic Mauritanian government had had good relations with
the EU. He explained that General Aziz had engineered the
coup when President Abdallahi had fired him from his
position. Nevertheless, the African Union had signaled that
coups would no longer be tolerated as a means of changing
government in Africa, a position Greece and the entire EU
supported. Such coups, he argued, not only destabilized the
region, they also were a fertile breeding ground for
international terrorism.
3. (SBU) On our demarche point that the junta may be engaging
in de-stabilizing activities in neighboring Mali,
Christopoulos said Greece had similar information and was
trying to gather more. He explained that Greece did not have
an embassy in Nouakchott and relied on its mission in Rabat
for coverage.
SPECKHARD
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL GR EUN MR
SUBJECT: MAURITANIA: GREECE AGREES "100 PERCENT" WITH U.S.
POSITION
REF: SECSTATE 13962
1. (SBU) DepPolCouns delivered reftel demarche on EU policy
toward Mauritania to MFA A9 Africa Directorate deputy head
Taxiarchis Christopoulos. Christopoulos said Greek diplomats
from Brussels would attend the February 20 EU meeting in
Paris. He also said that Mauritania was a regular topic of
discussion in the EU and had been discussed as recently as
February 18 at the working level.
2. (SBU) Christopoulos said Greece agreed "100 percent" with
the U.S. position on Mauritania and stressed the importance
of the return of democracy to the African country. He said
the coup by General Aziz was a "pity," noting that the
democratic Mauritanian government had had good relations with
the EU. He explained that General Aziz had engineered the
coup when President Abdallahi had fired him from his
position. Nevertheless, the African Union had signaled that
coups would no longer be tolerated as a means of changing
government in Africa, a position Greece and the entire EU
supported. Such coups, he argued, not only destabilized the
region, they also were a fertile breeding ground for
international terrorism.
3. (SBU) On our demarche point that the junta may be engaging
in de-stabilizing activities in neighboring Mali,
Christopoulos said Greece had similar information and was
trying to gather more. He explained that Greece did not have
an embassy in Nouakchott and relied on its mission in Rabat
for coverage.
SPECKHARD