AMISOM DEMARCHE: ROYG RESPONDS SOMALI FORCES NEED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000504 SIPDIS FOR AF/RSA:MSKARDON AND CTRINGALE AND NEA/ARP:AMACDONALD E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2019 TAGS: PREL PREF KPKO SO YM SUBJECT: AMISOM DEMARCHE: ROYG RESPONDS SOMALI FORCES NEED HELP MORE THAN AMISOM REF: STATE 27288 Classified By: CDA Angie Bryan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) POL/E Chief delivered reftel demarche to Abdulhakim al-Iryani, Director of the Foreign Minister's Office. Iryani said that he was pleased that the USG was engaging countries in the region on Somalia. He asserted that the piracy, terrorism, and refugee flows coming out of that country are the direct result of the absence of a stable government there. He complained that the international community ignored Somalia's plight for 16 years and began to show interest only when international terrorism brought Somalia's problems to the doorsteps of the West. ¶2. (C) He urged the USG to think seriously about AMISOM and ask if it is capable of achieving a secure and safe Somalia. He asserted that a more effective policy would be to support the country's attempts to build an indigenous army and police force. To this end he said that Yemen, already a poor country and recipient of assistance, is contributing from its meager assets to provide fledgling Somali forces with uniforms, training and monetary support for salaries. "We think of it as an investment," he said. He went on to note that anything the ROYG can do to keep Somalis in Somalia will help ease the "large burden" Yemen carries from Somali refugees. BRYAN