CDA MEETING: SOMALI AMBASSADOR TO QATAR PLAYS DOWN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000550 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2019 TAGS: PREL QA SO EG SA SUBJECT: CDA MEETING: SOMALI AMBASSADOR TO QATAR PLAYS DOWN TALK OF IMPENDING MEDIATION REF: A. DOHA 276 ¶B. DOHA 238 Classified By: CDA Mirembe L. Nantongo for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- (C) KEY POINTS -------------- -- (U) Somali President Shaykh Sherif Ahmed was in Doha August 28-30 for talks with Qatari Amir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani. Sherif also met with Egyptian-born cleric Yusuf Al Qaradawi, according to the Somali Ambassador to Qatar. -- (C) Somali Ambassador Qassem Naji played down talk of Official Qatari mediation in Somalia in a September 2 meeting with CDA, instead emphasizing reconciliation efforts by Qatari, Egyptian, and Saudi clerics. He revealed that the GOQ has offered to host a conference, but said the GOQ itself had no pronounced role in mediation. -- (U) A press report in a Sweden-based Somali newspaper stating that Qatar planned on mediating between warring Somali factions was disputed by an August 31 Qatari newspaper article, which appeared to rebut it, indicating that Somalia sought only reconstruction assistance and "political support" from Qatar in the August meeting. -- (C) Al Jazeera Network's Somalia expert dismissed the prospect of impending Qatari mediation in the war-torn country in a September 1 conversation with PAO, speculating that the Somali visit was a futile attempt to collect on money previously pledged to the African state's transitional government. -------------- (C) COMMENTS -------------- -- (C) Despite the Somali report that Qatar was on the verge of mediating in Somalia (see para. 8),we see no evidence the GOQ has abandoned its disinclination to mediate in the African country, a position Qatar's Prime Minister shared with Ambassador in May (Ref A). Although the Somali Ambassador revealed that Qatar offered to host a conference to bridge differences among the parties in the coming months, he gave no indication that the GOQ will mediate during these talks. -- (C) It is more likely in our view that the GOQ will confine itself to lending its support to clerical groups pursuing reconciliation. -- (C) The Transitional Federal Government of Somalia's August visit to Qatar was likely motivated by financial considerations more than by a desire to elicit Qatari mediation. Shaykh Sherif's government held Qatar individually responsible for its failure to secure unconditional financial support at last March's Arab League summit (Ref B) and may have hoped this meeting would alter what they see as Qatari intransigence in this matter. End Key Points and Comments. ¶1. (U) Qatar received a Somali delegation led by the President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Shaykh Sherif Ahmed, August 26-29. President Shaykh Sherif, who was accompanied by his Ministers for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, held talks with Qatari Amir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani at Doha International Airport. -------------- CDA'S MEETING WITH SOMALI AMBASSADOR -------------- ¶2. (C) CDA met with Somali Ambassador to Qatar, Qassem Naji, September 2 to discuss reports that Qatar was planning to mediate in Somalia. The Ambassador confirmed that the Amir met Shaykh Sherif August 27 and discussed issues of reconciliation and Qatar's support of Somalia. Naji reported that the Amir undertook in the meeting to study the possibility of political, economic, and social assistance to Somalia. ¶3. (C) The Somali Ambassador confirmed previous Embassy reports that the TFG refused 3 million USD in aid from the Arab League at March's Arab League summit due to the conditions attached to it (Ref B),adding that Shaykh Sherif met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani on the sidelines of the Arab League Summit meeting. Asked whether the GOQ independently gave money to Somalia, Naji said he did not know. DOHA 00000550 002 OF 002 ¶4. (C) Ambassador Naji emphasized the mediating role of clerics throughout the meeting with CDA. He recounted that Al Jazeera's Yusuf Al Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born cleric resident in Qatar, sent a delegation of clerics to Somalia in April to support "urgent" reconciliation, which the GOQ publicly said it supports. The clerical delegation attempted to mediate between Shaykh Sharif and Islamist opposition leader Shaykh Hassan Aweys, but these overtures were rejected and the Qatari clerics never even met with the opposition, according to the Ambassador. Naji told CDA that, despite this setback, Qaradawi said he would make every effort to advance reconciliation. And, while Qaradawi was not present at the Amir's meeting with the Somali President, Qaradawi met separately with Shaykh Sherif at his house. ¶5. (C) The Somali Ambassador also revealed that, like their Qatari counterparts, Saudi and Egypt clerics were trying to mediate in Somalia. Naji said that clerics were particularly well-suited to mediate, as the opposition refused to engage with "unbelievers," a term they apply liberally. ¶6. (C) Commenting on the broader picture, Naji assessed that the TFG and GOQ were working together, while the opposition was not. -------------- DUELING NEWS ACCOUNTS -------------- ¶7. (U) An August 28 story in a Sweden-based Somali newspaper claimed that Qatar planned on mediating between the TFG and insurgent groups. In talks with the Somali President, the Amir told Sheykh Sherif his invitation to Doha was motivated by a Qatari desire to mediate between the Somali government and its opponents, particularly al-Hizb al-Islami and Al-Shabaab, the paper reported. The GOQ urged the TFG, according to the article, to engage opposition groups in dialogue and promised to bring the Somali factions to the negotiating table in the near future. ¶8. (U) An interview with Somali Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Jama in an August 31 Arabic-language Qatari newspaper provided a different account of the meeting. While also attributing the visit to a Qatari invitation, he claimed that the talks emphasized Somali requests for financial assistance. Asked about reports of a mediation role for Qatar, Jama was initially hesitant to comment, saying only that "if there are concrete results, they will be announced." He proceeded to say that Somalia has no interest in a new reconciliation initiative and the only way to rebuild the country was to support its legitimate government, the TFG, according to the report. Jama closed by saying he looks forward to "Qatar's assistance in the political process, in addition to providing the necessary support in the areas of security and reconstruction." -------------- AL JAZEERA EXPERT'S TAKE -------------- ¶9. (C) PAO spoke September 1 with Al Jazeera Network's Somalia expert, Abdulrahman Warsame, about these contradictory accounts. Warsame professed to not having "heard much" about Shaykh Sherif's visit to Doha, calling it a feeble attempt to collect on financial pledges to Somalia made during the Arab League Summit in Doha. He interpreted the Somali Minister of International Cooperation's presence on the trip as evidence of this. ¶10. (C) Asked directly about reports that Qatar will mediate in Somalia, Warsame expressed deep skepticism that they are accurate. He noted that none of the disputants appeared to have an interest in mediation at the moment. Al-Shabaab is "definitely not into it", according to him, and al-Hizb al-Islami might be more amenable, but he hasn't heard of them making any visits to Doha recently. Even the TFG itself is disinclined to submit to mediation until it re-gains lost territory, particularly Mogadishu. Nantongo