SOMALIA: TFG-ASWJ DEAL INITIALED IN ADDIS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 000314

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/FO, AF/RSA, AF/E

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2020
TAGS: ET PGOV PREL SO
SUBJECT: SOMALIA: TFG-ASWJ DEAL INITIALED IN ADDIS

Classified By: Charge John M. Yates for Reasons 1.4 B/D.


1. (C) SUMMARY. Somalia's Transitional Federal Government
(TFG) and the leadership of the Al-Sunna Wal Jama'a (ASWJ)
movement in Somalia have initialed an agreement aiming to
integrate ASWJ into the structures of the TFG. The agreement
would specifically assign five of the TFG's 39 ministries to
ASWJ along with three ambassadorships and a similar
proportion of senior TFG positions. The TFG would recognize
ASWJ administration in areas under ASWJ control. ASWJ would
pledge full support for the TFG, Transitional Federal
Institutions (TFI),and the Djibouti Peace Process. ASWJ
forces would be made an integral part of TFG forces under
central TFG command. The agreement was initialed in Addis
Ababa on February 13 by TFG Deputy Prime Minister Sharif
Hassan and by ASWJ leader Sheikh Mahmud Hassan with the
express goal of achieving full execution of it by the end of
February 2010. Ethiopian Foreign Minster Seyoum called on
international partners to publicly express general support
for the agreement without revealing its precise content.
Post believes such a statement could be crafted. In a
private meeting with Charge later on February 16, Seyoum made
a strong pitch for U.S. financial support and weapons for 950
TFG security forces who are about to complete training in
Ethiopia, arguing that their redeployment to Mogadishu will
provide a welcome boost to the TFG as it concludes this deal
with ASWJ. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Charge attended a meeting on Somalia on February 16
hosted by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin and
Ethiopian State Minister for Foreign Affairs Tekeda Alemu at
the Sheraton Hotel. Also present were Deputy Chief of the UN
Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) Charles Petrie, African
Union Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra, and Italian Ambassador
Raffaele de Lutio (as chair of the InterGovernmental
Authority on development (IGAD) Partners Forum). FM Mesfin
presented copies of a three-page document in both English and
Somali, entitled "Agreement Between The Transitional Federal
Government of Somalia And Ahlu Sunna WalJama'a" (Agreement).
The Agreement bore the initials "S" and "MH" beneath the
blank signature lines entitled "Shaerif Hassan Sheikh
Aden/Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance" and
"Sheikh Mahmud Sheikh Hassan/Spiritual Leader of Ahlu Sunna
WalJama'a" respectively. After meeting participants had
reviewed the initialed agreement, Seyoum invited DPM Shaerif
Hassan and Sheikh Mahmud Hassan to join.


3. (C) The Agreement (forwarded to AF/E) consists of a
preamble and five articles entitled "Objectives," "Allocation
of Government Positions to ASWJ," "Integration of ASWJ into
TFG," "Implementation Committee," and "Entry into Force."
The preamble expresses the determination of the parties to
coordinate resources in an effort "to eradicate the scourge
of extremism," recognizes the Transitional Federal Charter
(TFC) and the Djibouti Peace Process (DPP) as the sole bases
for establishing a durable peace, and recognizes the ASWJ as
a "grass roots movement of the Somali people and a force for
peace."


4. (C) Article 1 expresses the intent of the Agreement
parties to integrate ASWJ into TFG structures and their
mutual support of the TFC, TFIs, and DPP as the continued
foundation for creation of a more inclusive TFG open to "all
Somali forces that renounce violence."


5. (C) Article 2 lists 39 jobs to be allocated to ASWJ most
of which are qualified as "Category A, B, or C" and which
include five ministers, one minister of state, five assistant
ministers, five directors general, five directors of
departments, three deputy commanders of police and security
forces, three ambassadors, three commercial attachees, three
military attachees, and three cultural attachees. Neither
the categories nor the nature of involved non-security
portfolios are further described.


6. (C) Article 3 conveys TFG recognition of the
administrative structures created by ASWJ in areas under its
control, calls on ASWJ to create police and militia in those
areas, and calls for ASWJ forces to be made an integral part
of the TFG forces under TFG central command.


7. (C) Article 4 commits TFG and ASWJ to establish a joint
implementation committee "immediately upon the signing of
this Agreement" to implement all provisions within one
further month. Article 5 expresses the parties' intent to

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formally sign the agreement by the end of February 2010 and
to implement all its provisions within 30 days of signature.


8. (C) After the TFG and ASWJ delegation leaders joined the
meeting, Seyoum called for all participating nations and
entities to support the Agreement. Explaining that the next
two weeks are crucial as TFG and ASWJ delegation leaders seek
to gain the support of their constituencies, Seyoum made
clear that Ethiopia is prepared to continue to play a
brokering role -- transporting members of both delegations to
and from Somalia and strongly recommending the Agreement to
ASWJ forces on the ground with whom Ethiopian forces have
been closely coordinating for many months.


9. (C) In a private meeting later on February 16 with Charge
and P/E Counselor, Seyoum said the TFG-ASWJ Agreement "should
be a major step forward." He agreed with Charge that ASWJ's
lack of coherent internal structure remained a cause for
concern. Seyoum added that some elements within ASWJ had
argued strongly that the TFG was so weak ASJ should seek to
remove it rather than join it and that Ethiopia had finally
convinced ASWJ that union with the TFG was the only way that
ASWJ would gain Ethiopian and broader international community
support.


10. (C) Seyoum argued that TFG needs a boost now in the eyes
of its new partner and suggested a way for the U.S. to help
provide it. He said that 950 TFG security forces are about
to complete training in Harrar, Ethiopia and should be
redeployed quickly to Mogadishu where other TFG security
forces have been making limited progress taking back
territory against fierce Al Shabab resistance. He said these
newly trained TFG forces have been supported by the GOE with
only $1 million in outside support from Germany. Germany, he
said, has pledged to pay the salaries of these forces for
three months once they return to Somalia. He asked that the
U.S. provide them with weapons and additional financial
support for their upkeep and salaries and that this be done
on an urgent basis both to permit the troops (which he
characterized as 'police' in the manner of French
gendarmerie) to be deployed immediately and to prevent their
becoming disenchanted with no clear mission to perform.
Seyoum noted that we had helped arm previous troops trained
by Ugandans and hoped for a quick positive response to this
request since Ethiopia arms lockers were bare.


11. (C) In the morning meeting, Seyoum had also urged
international partners to proclaim support for the TFG-ASWG
draft Agreement without at this point revealing its precise
content. We believe it would be possible to draft a
statement of support for the discussions being undertaken in
Addis aimed at pooling the parties' resources and integrating
their structures to combat extremism and terrorist groups.
YATES