Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09STATE14421
2009-02-17 18:57:00
SECRET
Secretary of State
Cable title:  

(U) Secretary Clinton?s February 12, 2009,

Tags:  EG IS IR MEPP UN 
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O P 171857Z FEB 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY CAIRO IMMEDIATE 
INFO AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY DOHA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 
UNESCO COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 
GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
S E C R E T STATE 014421 


E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2019
TAGS: EG IS IR MEPP UN
SUBJECT: (U) Secretary Clinton?s February 12, 2009,
Meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit

S E C R E T STATE 014421


E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2019
TAGS: EG IS IR MEPP UN
SUBJECT: (U) Secretary Clinton?s February 12, 2009,
Meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit


1. Classified by NEA Acting Assistant Secretary Jeff
Feltman for reasons: 1.4 (b) & (d).


2. (U) February 12, 2009; 13:00 p.m.; Washington, DC.


3. (U) Participants:

U.S.
The Secretary
NEA Acting Assistant Secretary Feltman

Egypt
Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit
Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. Sameh Shoukry


4. (S) SUMMARY. Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister
Aboul Gheit met on February 12 and engaged in a warm
discussion on the need to strength the U.S.-Egyptian
bilateral relationship. The FM was delighted when the
Secretary accepted Egypt?s invitation to attend the
upcoming March 2 Donor?s Conference in Cairo and urged a
presidential visit in Cairo or Washington soon.
Regarding peace efforts in the region, Aboul Gheit said
the United States had only two options, either pick up
the Clinton Parameters of December 2000 or the Annapolis
process from where it left off. On Iran and Syria,
Aboul Gheit urged caution in any attempt to engage both
countries. The FM urged the United States not to
actively oppose the candidacy of Hosny Farouk for UNESCO
Director General. Both leaders agreed on the need to
get the U.S.-Egyptian bilateral assistance program back
on track. END SUMMARY.

--------------
EMBRACING CHANGE
--------------

5.(S) Aboul Gheit opened the meeting by conveying warm
greetings from President Mubarak. He was effusive in
his praise of Secretary Clinton and expressed hope that
a "very difficult" eight-year period in the relationship
was over. He noted that Egypt is "eager to embrace
change." The Secretary emphasized the United States
strong, continuing commitment to work with Egypt.

--------------
GAZA DONORS CONFERENCE
--------------


6. (S) Aboul Gheit then turned to the March 2 Gaza
Donors conference, stating that President Sarkozy and
PM Berlusconi would attend. Noting that it would be an
"excellent follow up" to the Mitchell visit, he asked
the Secretary to attend the conference and for the
United States to be a co-sponsor. The Secretary
confirmed her attendance and underscored that the United
States wanted to work closely with Egypt on the
framework for the conference in order to ensure a
positive outcome. The Secretary stated that the United
States wanted the conference to send a message about

Egypt's leadership and to make clear to others in the
region the importance we attach to Egypts role and our
support for like-minded states that share Egypts
strategic approach.

--------------
THE UNITED STATES IS BACK
--------------

7.(S) Delighted with the Secretarys response, an
effusive Aboul Gheit urged the Secretary to deliver a
speech at the conference and assured that she would be
received by President Mubarak. He said that although
Sarkozy and Berlusconi would be there at the same time,
that the attention should be on the Secretary, to
symbolize the return of the United States to the
Israeli-Arab negotiations. Foreign Minister Aboul
Gheit noted that the Europeans had begun to assert
themselves during the U.S. transition period; the
Secretarys presence in Cairo would clearly convey the
message that "the United States is back."

-------------- --
PROPOSED MEETINGS AT FRINGE OF DONOR CONFERENCE
-------------- --

8.(S) In terms of other meetings in Cairo, Aboul Gheit
suggested that the Secretary meet with the GCC+3. He
also suggested a GCC+3 meeting with the P5+1, noting
that this had been a very useful gathering to send
signals to Iran and others. Aboul Gheit proposed that
if the Secretary were to arrive in the afternoon of
March 1, that she could do one of these sessions then,
with the following session the following evening. The
Secretary responded positively but noncommittally,
saying that she would have to check her schedule. "We
want to send a signal that we know who our friends are,"
the Secretary said.

--------------
PROPOSED PRESIDENTIAL VISIT
--------------

9.(S) Aboul Gheit asked when "we can allow our two
presidents to meet," and encouraged that it be soon. He
conveyed that President Mubarak would be willing to
travel to the United States or to host the President in
Cairo, adding, You decide." He noted that given the
President's promise to deliver a speech in a Muslim
country, Cairo would be the perfect venue, given that it
is the seat of al-Azhar University and the center of
the Arab world. Other countries like Morocco or
Indonesia, while important, he noted, are peripheral to
the real Arab heartland, which is what the President
hopes to reach. In terms of audience, the FM said "I
can provide 20,000 people" in a secure venue, listening
to the Presidents message. The Secretary agreed to
convey the invitation. She cautioned that President
Obama is currently constrained by the work needed to
address the economic challenges, "but I will faithfully
represent your arguments."

--------------
ASSISTANCE
--------------


10. (S) Aboul Gheit raised the issue of U.S. assistance
to Egypt, asking that the USG "re-open the Egypt
program." "Decisions were taken unilaterally," he said,
which is not how allies and friends should deal with
one another. While Egypt had remained "polite," the FM
said that Egyptians had "distanced themselves" in this
regard. He urged that the United States and Egypt work
to mend this aspect of the relationship. The Secretary
expressed understanding, acknowledging that there had
been both cuts in the program and programmatic decisions
made by the United States. "I'm going to look into
this," she promised. She noted that Congress is also a
factor in the assistance relationship, and underscored
the need to examine how to "get Members of Congress to
see you as a friend and ally."

--------------
PALESTINIAN RECONCILIATION
--------------


11. (S) Aboul Gheit said that Omar Soliman had reported
to him that a longer-term calming should be ready for
announcement on February 17 or 18. The Israelis are now
informed. On February 22, Egypt will host all of the
Palestinian factions in Cairo to launch a reconciliation
process that "could last days or weeks, if not months."
The "quiet" and the reconciliation process should allow
the PA, Abu Mazen, and Salam Fayyad "some relief" from
the threats of illegitimacy, as a start to restoring
their authority. The Secretary urged that we be kept
informed of how this is progressing, as we needed to
understand what the conditions for Palestinian
reconciliation will be.


12. (S) Responding to the Secretary's comments about
"lost ground and lost time," Aboul Gheit noted that, in
terms of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the
United States had only two options: either pick up the
Clinton Parameters of December 2000, or pick up the
Annapolis process from where it left off. "There is no
third way." The Secretary asked about the Arab League
Initiative. It is still there, the FM acknowledged, but
the Israelis never picked up on it, with the issue of
refugees being more difficult than the issue of
Jerusalem. Israel cannot accept the formulation on
refugees, he said, but maybe it can be set aside
temporarily. He emphasized the need for Egypt to
understand what the United States was doing regarding
negotiations, referring to the failed 2000 Camp David
summit when "we didn't know what was happening."

--------------
IRANIAN INFLUENCE AND ARAB POLITICAL DISARRAY
--------------


13. (S) In response to the Secretary's questions about
Palestinian reconciliation efforts, Aboul Gheit spoke of
a "region in the midst of a war" -- a cold war that
often turns hot and then back to cold. This is largely
due to the fact that Iran wants to extend its influence
across the region and to "collect cards" to use in
bargaining over its nuclear program. Iran has IRGC
forces "everywhere." Iran uses Hamas and Hizballah.
"Sadly," even some Arabs are collaborating with Iran,
such as Syria and Qatar. Imagine, he noted, Qatar is a
"principality" of only "60,000 maybe 100,000 people, and
it is creating havoc in the region." He noted that
there are more Egyptian guest workers in Qatar than
Qatari citizens. Iran also promoted "two wars in two
years," he said, referring to Gaza and the 2006 Lebanon
war. Iran is destabilizing the region and must be
confronted everywhere.


14. (S) Aboul Gheit urged that the United States, should
it decide to engage, do so "with eyes wide open." He
predicted that the USG would discover by the end of 2009
that the Iranians did not deliver anything and that the
Iranians "express what they don't believe." The
Secretary emphasized that, indeed, the USG was going
into this process well aware of the difficulties. But
any engagement should demonstrate clearly that Iran
either can deliver or that it won't deliver. At this
point, people question whether the United States is to
blame for Iranian intransigence, but engagement should
show exactly where the problems are.


15. (S) Aboul Gheit added that that the threat of
sanctions is not sufficient, and the threat of war
contradicts the message the Administration is trying to
send to the Muslim world. So he suggested being "very,
very firm" in any talks with the Iranians. He mused
about whether, ultimately, the United States should
agree to enrichment on Iranian soil that is heavily
patrolled by comprehensive international supervision.

--------------
SYRIA
--------------


16. (S) On Syria, Aboul Gheit noted that Egypt is aware
that the United States wants to try a new approach. He
said that Egypt is planning an effort to reconcile Arab
differences among ourselves. He cautioned that the USG
should be cautious with Syria, noting that the Syrians
seek to escape the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, to
obtain assurances about the future of their regime, seek
a return of the Golan Heights, and want acknowledgement
of their predominance in Lebanon. The Syrians should be
"forced to pay a price" for any of these, and not be
given any of these up front. He concluded by urging the
United States to tell the Syrians to "stay away from the
Iranians."

--------------
UNHELPFUL QATAR
--------------


17. (S) Finally, Aboul Gheit said, "there is Qatar."
Qatar is financing "everything." Qatar claims to have
frozen the Arab peace plan and to have ordered the Arab
states to cut off ties to Israel. What is motivating
Qatar is an image of "the great state of Qatar" -- a
Qatar that hosts the Lebanese factions for a Doha
accord, the Sudanese for another Doha accord, the
various Arabs to respond to the Gaza crisis, and so on.
The FM opined that the only country that can check
Qatar's behavior is the United States. The United
States needs to say, you are troubling our allies and
confusing our policies." The FM suggested that the Emir
and the Prime Minister need to feel that "Washington is
cold."

--------------
HOSNY CANDIDACY FOR UNESCO DG
--------------


18. (S) Aboul Gheit raised the issue of Egyptian Cultural
Minister Farouk Hosny's UNESCO DG candidacy. "I hope, I
hope, I hope, if you can't support him, that you won't
oppose him." The Secretary said that we had real
concerns about Hosnys statements. Moreover, as we ask
the Israelis to take a lot of hard decisions regarding
negotiations and facts on the ground, we do not need
additional problems. Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit said
that perhaps he could solve the issue with the Israelis,
by promising them that, if Hosny is elected, his first
visit as UNESCO DG would be to Israel. The Secretary
responded that Israeli concurrence could help, but we
still had our own concerns. She recommended that Egypt
seek other candidates.

--------------
PROPOSED FRENCH SUMMIT IN APRIL
--------------


19. (S) Aboul Gheit and the Secretary briefly conferred
on the idea of a French-hosted summit in early April,
and agreed that it was premature to commit to such a
step. The Secretary noted that the Israeli political
calendar made the timing especially awkward.

--------------
EGYPTS PUSH FOR INCLUSION IN G-8/G-20
--------------

20.(C) Aboul Gheit made a pitch for Egypt to be included
in an expanded G-20 and that the group of five
"outreach" countries to the G-8 be expanded to include
Egypt on a permanent basis. The Secretary said that she
would look into the issue.

CLINTON