EGYPT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 000851 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2019 TAGS: PREL KNNP PARM EG SUBJECT: EGYPT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL ELECTIONS REF: STATE 46302 Classified By: A/DCM William R. Stewart for Reason 1.4(b),(c), and (d). ¶1. (C) On May 14, Poloffs urged MFA Disarmament Affairs official Heba Negm to support the candidacy of Yukiya Amano of Japan as IAEA Director General (reftel). Negm replied that Egypt supported Abdul Minty of South Africa during the first round along with the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) group, but noted that the NAM only narrowly chose Minty over Amano. Negm claimed that the GOE had not chosen a candidate to support for the second round of voting and would take a fresh look at the existing candidates and any new entries. ¶2. (C) Comment: Given Egypt's past support for Minty, active participation in the NAM group at the IAEA, and a history of unhelpful interventions on the IAEA Board of Governors, we anticipate that Egypt will again support Minty during the second round of voting. Post will follow up with MFA disarmament officials upon their return from the NPT Prepcom in New York. SCOBEY