SOMALIA/ERITREA: EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER REPORTEDLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L DJIBOUTI 001199 SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/E AND NEA LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA-WATCHER AFRICOM AND CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/10/11 TAGS: PREL MASS EG ER DJ SO SUBJECT: SOMALIA/ERITREA: EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER REPORTEDLY CONSULTS WITH ISAIAS ON SOMALIA REF: 09 STATE 103664 CLASSIFIED BY: Eric Wong, Charge d'affaires, ad interim, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassy, Djibouti; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) According to Egyptian Ambassador to Djibouti, Farghali Abdulhalim Taha, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Egyptian intelligence chief (presumably Omar Suleiman) visited Eritrea o/a October 7 to discuss Somalia. ¶2. (C) In an October 10 conversation with CDA a.i., Amb. Taha said FM Gheit and Egypt's intelligence chief had met with President Isaias three days earlier. Isaias reportedly proposed a new peace conference on Somalia. Such a conference would not/not be held under the auspices of either the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD),the League of Arab States, or the African Union; however, Taha said, it would involve "neighboring and regional states," as well as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Taha did not elaborate on the level of Egyptian support for such an initiative. ¶3. (C) Asked whether Isaias has discussed the ongoing Eritrea-Djibouti border dispute (arising from Eritrea's continued military occupation of Ras Doumeira since at least March 2008), Amb. Taha said the issue had not been raised. He said Eritrea's position remained that there was nothing to discuss on the issue, as Eritrea continued to refuse to acknowledge that the June 2008 firefight (between Eritrean and Djiboutian troops at Ras Doumeira) had even occurred. -------------- -------------- COMMENT: REPORTED ERITREAN INITIATIVE A LIKELY RESPONSE TO DJIBOUTIAN EFFORTS TO BACK THE TFG -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) As the former host of the radical wing of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) led by extremist Hassan Dahir Aweys, the foil to current President of Somalia Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his moderate formerly Djibouti-based ARS wing, Eritrea presumably seeks a new conference on Somalia that would challenge the legitimacy of President Sharif's Transitional Federal Government (TFG). The proposed participation of Arab states such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia is likely intended to serve as a counterweight to the six-member IGAD, which has strongly backed the "Djibouti Process" and the current TFG. ¶5. (C) Such an unwelcome initiative comes when Djibouti and Western allies (e.g., France and the United States) are actively engaged in supporting military training of more than 600 TFG troops in Djibouti: some 463 TFG troops undergoing training by the Djiboutian military since early July are scheduled to complete their joint training with approximately 150 French-trained troops on October 15; the Djiboutian-trained troops will then begin returning to Mogadishu, via USG-contracted charter aircraft. According to the French DCM Yves Bertin, a second tranche of TFG troops to undergo French training (numbering approximately 370) have recently arrived in Djibouti. Post has also informed the GODJ's deputy chief of defense, MG Zakaria Cheick Ibrahim, that the USG will notify the UN of its intent to provide uniforms and non-lethal kit to outfit approximately 1,000 TFG troops who are expected to complete training in Djibouti (reftel). END COMMENT. WONG