ARAB LEAGUE SPOKESMAN BRIEFS ON SEPTEMBER MINISTERIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 001788



SIPDIS



DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/ARP, AF/SPG, NEA/I



E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2019

TAGS: PREL, KPAL, KWBG, IS, IZ, WEU, GZ, SY, SU, EG

SUBJECT: ARAB LEAGUE SPOKESMAN BRIEFS ON SEPTEMBER

MINISTERIAL



Classified By: Minister Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs

Donald A. Blome for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).



1. (C) Key Points:



-- According to Arab League (AL) Cabinet Chief Hisham

Youssef, the key topics of discussions at the September 9-10

AL Ministerial included the Iraqi-Syrian dispute, the crises

in Sudan, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.



-- The AL and Turkey are mediating the Iraq-Syria security

dispute and have presented a "confidence-building proposal"

that encouraged both countries to return their Ambassadors

and asked them not to escalate the dispute in the media.

There is a tentative follow-up meeting in Turkey on either

Wednesday September 16 or Thursday September 17



-- Optimism on the Middle East peace process is "declining"

due to the Israeli decision to build 500 additional housing

units in the settlements. Youssef said the League is hoping

for good news from S/E Mitchell's current visit, but if there

is no settlement freeze, the Arab Peace Initiative (API)

committee will advise Abu Mazen not to return to trilateral

peace talks. The next meeting of the API committee is

scheduled for September 22.



-- The ministers are "cautiously optimistic" about the

improving situation in Darfur. The Sudanese Minister of

State asked AL ministers to support the Doha process.

However, Youssef said that the AL is concerned about the

deteriorating situation in southern Sudan



2. (U) Briefing the diplomatic community in Cairo, Arab

League Cabinet Chief Hisham Youssef said the September 9-10

AL ministerial focused on the Iraqi-Syrian dispute, the

crises in Sudan, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. He said that

the meetings on the margins of the ministerial were much more

substantive than the general sessions.



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Iraq and Syria Welcome AL and Turkish Mediation

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3. (C) Youssef said that AL SYG Amr Moussa had separate

discussions with Iraqi FM Zebari and Syrian FM Moallem to get

their perspectives on the bilateral dispute over the August

19 bombings in Baghdad. These meetings were followed by a

"quartet meeting" that included Moussa, Moallem, Zebari, and

Turkish FM Davutoglu. Youssef categorized the discussions as

"frank" and said that both Iraqi and Syrian representatives

expressed their governments' desires to "ease the tensions"

and "resolve the issue." The AL and Turkey presented a

"confidence-building proposal" that encouraged the countries

to return their Ambassadors and asked them not to escalate

the dispute in the media. According to Youssef, the Syrian

and Iraqi FMs welcomed the Turkish and AL mediation. Both

Moallem and Zebari returned to their capitals for

consultations, and there will be a follow-up meeting in

Turkey on Thursday September 17. Youssef told Poloff

privately that at this meeting, Iraq will share with Turkey

satellite imagery evidence to support its position. He told

us that Syria was also keen to examine the satellite photos.



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Declining Optimism on U.S. Mideast Peace Efforts

-------------- ---



4. (SBU) Youssef said AL ministers condemned the Israeli

decision to build 500 additional housing units in the

settlements. He praised the efforts of S/E Mitchell and said

that he should be "given every chance to succeed." However,

Youssef said that optimism about the U.S. approach was

"beginning to decline." He told us that the API committee

will meet with Abu Mazen on September 22 after the AL

receives a readout of S/E Mitchell's current visit to the

region. This will allow the committee to review "any

progress" from the visit and evaluate its options. Youssef

stressed that Abu Mazen asked for AL support, and unless

there is a complete settlement freeze, including East

Jerusalem, the API committee will advise Abu Mazen not to

return to trilateral peace talks. He stated that the AL



CAIRO 00001788 002 OF 002





already paid the price for an end to Israeli settlement

activity when it halted the Arab boycott of Israel. Youssef

said that the League is hoping for good news from the

Mitchell visit, but the AL must be ready to act on both good

news and bad news.



5. (SBU) Youssef said the AL was fully supportive of

Egyptians efforts to reconcile the Palestinian factions. He

said SYG Moussa met Khalid Meshaal "behind the scenes" and

encouraged him to cooperate with Egyptian efforts. Youssef

hoped that the next meeting of the Palestinian factions after

Ramadan would bear fruit.



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Buoyed by Progress in Darfur; Concern over South Sudan

-------------- --------------



6. (SBU) Youssef said there was a special September 10

meeting on Sudan. Ali Kurti, the Sudanese Minister of State

for Foreign Affairs told the group that Government of Sudan

(GoS) was focused on efforts to resolve the situation in

Darfur and encouraged the other ministers to support the Doha

process. Youssef praised the work of S/E Gration and UN/AU

Mediator Djibril Bassole to resolve the Darfur crisis.

According to Youssef, Professor Hassan Mohamed (NFI) told the

group that USD 100 million in financing had been received

from Arab countries and the AL to provide food aid, health

clinics and wells in Darfur. (Note: Youssef said that Saudi

Arabia and Qatar had provided USD 20 million each, Libya had

given USD 10 million, and the AL had given USD 8 million. End

Note). Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed

bin Abdallah Al Mahmoud praised the efforts of Libya and

Egypt to unite the Darfur groups. He gave a presentation on

next steps, which include a meeting of the Arab-African

committee, a group of 12 Arab and 12 African countries, on

September 24 in New York during the UNGA. This will be

followed by discussions with rebel leaders in Doha at the end

of October that would set the stage for negotiations with the

GoS. Youssef characterized the Sudan meeting as "cautiously

optimistic" on Darfur. However, Youssef expressed concerns

about the deteriorating situation in southern Sudan. He said

that the AL supports the S/E Gration's "trilateral mechanism"

that includes the USG, NCP and SPLM.



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The NPT and the AL's Global Engagement

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7. (SBU) Youssef mentioned that the AL is "looking forward"

to the UNSC's discussion of the non-proliferation treaty

(NPT) on September 24 in New York. He said that the League

welcomes the reduction of strategic nuclear weapons and the

"universal principle" of non-proliferation.



8. (U) Youssef told the diplomats that the AL is coordinating

worldwide with numerous governments and organizations. In

addition to the Arab-African committee, the League is

sponsoring an Arab-Japanese forum in Japan in December and

Arab and European FMs plan to meet in late December or early

January. The AL also signed an agreement to hold an

Indo-Arab forum in India in February 2010, and the AL will

organize a "China Forum" during the second quarter of 2010.

Arab-Turkish, Arab-Russian, and Arab-Latin American fora will

also be held in the near future.

Scobey