EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: ARRIVAL NOT IMMINENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001742 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/28/2019 TAGS: PREL IZ EG SUBJECT: EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: ARRIVAL NOT IMMINENT REF: A. BAGHDAD 733 ¶B. 08 BAGHDAD 2699 Classified By: Acting Political Counselor John Fox for reason 1.4 (d). ¶1. (C) Ambassador Mohammad Tawfiq, head of the Egyptian delegation that visited Baghdad this week to check on progress on renovation of the building that will house the future Egyptian Embassy, told Deputy Pol/Couns June 25 that the GOE's June 16 announcement that it had appointed an ambassador to Iraq was a "political gesture" and that the ambassador would not arrive in Baghdad for at least several months. The MFA told us on June 27 that the Egyptian Prime Minister has invited Prime Minister Maliki to visit Cairo in July, and that the new Egyptian ambassador would likely not arrive in Baghdad until after the visit has taken place. ¶2. (C) The MFA has allocated two villas in the Diplomatic Zone (adjacent to the U.S. Embassy) to Egypt to house the future Egyptian Embassy and Ambassador's Residence. Other embassies will be located in the DZ villa complex as well, including those of Kuwait and the UAE (reftels). Tawfiq told us that, despite the MFA,s estimates, it will take at least seven months to complete the renovations. He said the villas would essentially need to be gutted. He said a follow-up technical team would visit Baghdad again in a few months. Noting that other Arab ambassadors had done so, Deputy Pol/Couns asked if the new Egyptian ambassador planned to establish a temporary embassy in the Al-Rasheed Hotel rather than put off his arrival until the permanent embassy is ready. Tawfiq demurred that there are too many unknowns; it would all depend on when the villas are fully renovated. ¶3. (C) Deputy Pol/Couns welcomed the expanded Egyptian diplomatic presence in Iraq, and said the U.S. Embassy would be happy to assist this effort. He told Tawfiq that an Egyptian technical team that had visited last fall had met with the RSO to discuss the security situation and ways the Embassy might help in the security realm. He offered to arrange another meeting if this would be helpful. Tawfiq appreciated the offer, which he said he would relay to the next delegation as it prepares its visit. He pointed out the importance of good security coordination, given the proximity of the U.S. Embassy to the DZ villas. ¶4. (C) Comment: The Egyptian Foreign Ministry's June 16 announcement that it had appointed Sharif Kamal Shahine, currently the Egyptian envoy to Zambia, as Ambassador to Iraq is significant because Egypt has not had an envoy in Iraq since its last ambassador, Ihab al-Sherif, was kidnapped and killed by al-Qa'ida in 2005. Given heightened Egyptian security concerns, the GOE may wish to wait until the secure DZ villa embassy is ready before they dispatching Shahine. Timing of Shain's arrival aside, the ambassadorial appointment is an indication of a positive Iraqi-Egyptian bilateral relationship. The June 21 official visit to Cairo of Iraqi Speaker of Parliament Ayad al-Samarrae is another. HILL