This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 000413 
 
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STATE FOR AF, AF/E, NEA/ENA 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2014 
TAGS: PREL PHUM MOPS ET ER LY DJ
SUBJECT: IGAD EXECUTIVE SECRETARY SEES NO CONCLUSIVE 
OUTCOME FOR MARCH 22 DJIBOUTI MINISTERIAL MEETING 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Marguerita D. Ragsdale. 
Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
¶1. (C) Ambassador Attalah Bashir Hamed, Head of the 
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) 
Secretariat, cites two problems confronting IGAD after the 
 
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March 12 Ministerial Facilitation Committee Meeting on 
Somalia Reconciliation, and in the wake of the March 22 
follow-up ministerial in Djibouti.  In a meeting at the 
Secretariat with Ambassador Ragsdale, at her request, Attalah 
 
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said first, the four faction leaders who walked out of the 
session are directly challenging IGAD's desire for 
inclusiveness in the peace process.  They must return to the 
table in order for the process to be viable. 
 
¶2. (C) Second, the Nairobi meeting was to have launched Phase 
3 of the Reconciliation process, i.e. selection of Members of 
Parliament according to clan affiliation.  At issue is one 
article in the TNG charter -- the need for political leaders 
to consult with traditional leaders.  Some participants, 
Attalah said, want consultation to be the other way around -- 
at the behest of traditional leaders who in turn draw in 
political leaders.  Traditional leaders are seen as having 
greater influence at the clan level, while political leaders 
are viewed as in control only of small segments of territory 
and of manpower. Because of the impasse, which has existed 
for one year, IGAD is taking the position that Phase 2 has 
been "completed," Attalah said, and "preparations are 
underway" for Phase 3. Yet this position continues to delay 
the peace process, he added. 
 
¶3. (C) Attalah said IGAD dispatched a team to Mogadishu just 
after the Nairobi meeting in order to convince those who had 
walked out to re-join talks. He said there is still no 
response from them and the team returned the same day with 
their report. In Attalah's view, peace in Somalia will only 
work when all agree to peace. At issue, he opined, is the 
proliferation and strength of "hidden agendas" by the Somalis 
themselves and by their allies. Those from Somalia involved 
in the process are not sophisticated politicians, but simple 
warlords.  Most have no idea about how peace conferences 
work. They think solely, he continued, along a single line -- 
that peace will mean the loss of their interests. 
 
¶4. (C) Attalah sees no significant outcomes from the March 22 
ministerial meeting in Djibouti, even though Ethiopia's State 
Minister for Foreign Affairs is on tap to attend. Kenya's 
Special Envoy Kipligat will also attend. Attalah stated that 
Kenya does not want to see any extreme measures taken in 
IGAD.  It wants to do all it can to preserve the fragile 
peace process.  Somalis are contributing to the fragility, 
Attalah emphasized, but Ethiopia and Djibouti are also 
contributing by "playing a game" with those they support. 
Both Ethiopia and Djibouti are also accused, he said, of 
running arms to Somalia, in spite of the U.N. embargo, the 
latter in coordination with Libya.  Ambassador mentioned that 
the  monitoring group created under UNSC 1519 is due to 
arrive in Djibouti on March 21.  Members are not scheduled to 
meet Attalah, but have programs at Civil Aviation, the port, 
and with Ambassadors of Security Council states present in 
country. 
 
¶5. (C) Despite his pessimism on Somalia, Attalah said he was 
pleased IGAD has succeeded in involving all its member 
states, plus the Arab League, the European Union and other 
international partners in the Somali peace process.  He said 
IGAD decided not to include Somaliland in peace negotiations 
and to respect its territorial integrity at the moment. 
However, IGAD has urged the international community not to 
recognize Somaliland as a sovereign state, since recognition 
may jeopardize the peace process.  The international 
community should continue, he said, to maintain contacts with 
Somaliland on humanitarian issues. 
 
¶6. (C) Comment:  Ambassador will meet again with Attalah for 
an assessment after conclusion of the March 22 round of 
talks. Attalah is pleased talks are taking place in Djibouti, 
having lamented privately to Ambassador that the presence of 
the Secretariat in Djibouti has in the past posed insuperable 
logistical problems.  These seem to have been overcome for 
Monday's meeting.  Nevertheless, the opening will take place 
at Djibouti's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as a portion of 
Secretariat offices is currently under renovation. End 
 
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comment. 
RAGSDALE