MFA SENIOR ADVISOR ON PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATIONS,

S E C R E T CAIRO 000571


NOFORN

NEA FOR FO; NSC FOR RUDMAN, SHAPIRO AND PASCUAL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV IS SY SU QA CD SA EG
SUBJECT: MFA SENIOR ADVISOR ON PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATIONS,
SYRIA AND SUDAN

REF: CAIRO 450

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Matthew Tueller
Reasons: 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (S/NF) Key points

-- MFA Senior Cabinet Advisor and Spokesman Hossam Zaki told
DCM April 2 that Egyptian-sponsored negotiations on
Palestinian government formation that resumed April 1 are
"going nowhere." He did not articulate a contingency plan,
and argued that the USG should not insist on Palestinian
Authority commitment to the two-state solution without
reciprocal pressure on the incoming Israeli government to
make a similar commitment.

-- Zaki offered his personal view that the USG should adopt a
more flexible approach on composition of a new interim PA
consensus government, arguing that any new interim government
will have some level of ties with Hamas. He said the GOE
respects and supports PA Prime Minister Fayyad, but urged the
USG not to make Fayyad's survival a "litmus test" for
acceptance of any new PA government.

-- Zaki characterized Egyptian outreach to Syria as "moving
slowly." He warned the USG not to "fall into the trap" of
the previous practice of attempting to resolve Lebanese
issues in Damasucs. The address should be Beirut.

-- On Sudan, Zaki said it was too early to tell if the recent
visit of President Bashir to Cairo, and President Mubarak's
stern warning, had yielded results. Bashir is in a defiant
mood over the ICC indictment. Zaki argued that resolution of
the Darfur situation is contingent on improved
Sudanese-Chadian ties.

PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATIONS "GOING NOWHERE"


2. (S/NF) Zaki told DCM that the Egyptian sponsored
negotiations on formation of an interim Palestinian consensus
government that resumed April 1 in Cairo are "going nowhere."
Fatah (led by Abu Alaa) and Hamas (led by Moussa Mazrouk)
appeared unable to bridge unresolved issues (reftel). "We'll
try again. How, I don't know," he said. Zaki said that the
USG needs to consider pushing both the Palestinian and
Israeli governments to accept previous agreements, and the
two-state solution in general.


3. (S/NF) Zaki urged USG flexibility on the formation of an
interim government, and to "accept" an interim PA with "some
links" to Hamas. Egypt's primary goal is to get the PA back
into Gaza, he said, and the second goal is to boost an
alternative to Hamas in the run-up to anticipated Palestinian
legislative and presidential elections in January 2010. "It
appears right now Fatah is the only alternative. So we need
to boost it," he said.


4. (S/NF) Zaki urged the USG not to make PA PM Fayyad a
"litmus test" for USG acceptance of a new interim PA
government. "It is not helpful if the USG insists on Fayyad.
We like him. He is a good man, honest and transparent, and
that is what is needed," he said. At the same time, Zaki
claimed that the GOE regretted the departure of Israeli FM
Livni. He argued that higher political objectives should
supersede preservation of individual political leaders. DCM
took the point, but said that the loss of Fayyad would almost
certainly presage backsliding on significant security and
financial transparency progress that had been achieved under
his watch.

EGYPTIAN/SYRIAN STATE OF PLAY


5. (S/NF) Zaki said that Egypt's outreach to Damascus was
"going slowly." EGIS Chief Omar Soliman had recently sent a
deputy to Damascus to consult with Hamas leadership, but had
also met with his Syrian counterparts. Zaki noted that the
Syrians had some room to maneuver out of the impasse they had
faced with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, but he was not sure about
Qatar's ability to do so.


6. (S/NF) Zaki said that the Syrians are taking the position
that they "are out of Lebanon" and should not be pressed to
moderate their behavior on that front. At the same time, he
warned that the USG not "fall into the trap" of trying to
resolve Lebanese political issues in Damascus. The address
should be Beirut, he said. He suggested we raise Lebanon
with the Syrians only in general terms, e.g. not to throw up
obstacles to Lebanese sovereignty and/or elections.

SUDAN


7. (S/NF) Zaki opined that it was too soon to tell if
President Bahsir's recent visit to Cairo (and the reported
stern message from President Mubarak) had yielded any impact.
Bashir and his government are in a defiant mood, Zaki said,
and needed to cool off. Once it did, he hoped that Bashir
would take in the Egyptian warning, and work with the GOE on
next steps. "Our objective is peace first, before justice.
We want to work with the factions. It will take time," he
said.


8. (S/NF) Zaki said that the Sudanese leadership
consistently raises Chad as an issue with the GOE, and
believe that a Darfur resolution is unachievable until
Sudanese-Chadian relations can be resuscitated. "As long as
this relationship is tense and adversarial nothing will
happen," Zaki opined.


9. (U) Minimize considered.

SCOBEY